Six snakes left to rot in a maggot-infested hell hole produced the whiff of death in a UK garage that housed the poor animals.

Vincent Parkes avoided jail for animal cruelty but was banned from owning pets for 10 years, while inspectors noted the property had "smelt of death" when they first investigated.

The creatures sadly died from neglect, found in tiny vivariums without proper heating and no water, with snakes crammed into cages and left to suffer.

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Speaking at Chester Magistrates' Court last month, Inspector Nadine Pengilly spoke of the horrid stench she was met with when finding five snake carcasses piled on top of one another.

She told the court: "When I approached the garage I could smell the strong smell of death coming from inside. The garage was full of vivariums with the top one having several snakes lying on top of each other – all these reptiles looked dead."

Of the rescued pythons found at the property, one passed away due to its emaciated state, while the surviving snakes were either underweight, suffering from skin issues or both.

Inspector Naomi Morris added: "The tanks were around 8 by 2 feet and there was no water in any of them. The wiring looked jumbled up and although the heat was on all of these tanks were plugged into extension leads that ran off one cable attached to the house.

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"The doors of the garage were hanging off the frame, which had come away from the brickwork so the tanks would have been exposed to the cold."

A statement from a veterinarian read out in court noted the snakes were not in a "suitable environment" to live.

They also noted the reptiles were in a condition nowhere near to "those necessary for this species" and that the health of the animals was "allowed to deteriorate over weeks to months without intervention".

Parks had at the time told inspectors he had a "mate checking in on the snakes" and that his mother and sister "kept turning off the electricity".

He was handed an eight-week suspended prison sentence for three non-animal cruelty offences which will run consecutively.

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