A nurse was bitten by a snake which leaped from a man's jacket pocket as she left a busy supermarket.

The 60-year-old victim felt a jab on her right arm and saw the reptile jump from the man's jacket.

She thought she was seeing things until she saw two bleeding puncture wounds in her arm.

The nurse, who does not want to be named, said: "I had come out of Safeways and had my sleeves rolled up because it was quite warm.

"The man passed me and it happened in a flash. I saw a thing flash towards me, quickly out and in.

"It hit me but I carried on walking further.

"Then I saw my arm and thought 'I'm bleeding.'"

There were two puncture wounds with blood and a white liquid coming from them.

She added: "It was just so very quick."

Her arm began to hurt and a tingling feeling in her fingers began moving up her arm.

She called her doctor who told her to go to the nearby Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton where she was given powerful antibiotics and anti-histamines.

She added: "I kept thinking that it didn't happen but I saw it and it did and I keep telling myself that I did see it even though it does sound strange.

"The more I think about what happened the more shocked I am, more so now than when it happened.

"It's a macabre thought what could have happened."

The nurse, who was in St James's Street when she was bitten, believes the snake was a pet and hopes it was not poisonous.

Inspector Julie Wakeford, of Brighton and Hove police, said: "This was an extremely unusual case and I have never come across anything like it before.

"We need to speak to the owner and I would appeal to anyone with information to come forward."

It happened at 5.30pm on Monday.

The man with the snake is of Eastern European appearance, 5ft 8in, slim with dark hair.

Call Insp Wakeford on 0845 6070 999.