A British woman brought home an unexpected stowaway from a backpacking trip in South-east Asia.

After returning home to Edinburgh, 24-year-old Daniela Liverani was horrified to discover a 7.5-cm leech had been living in her nose for about a month.

Ms Liverani believes she picked up the creature in Vietnam or Cambodia, reports the BBC.

She initially thought her persistent nosebleeds were caused by a burst blood vessel from a motorbike crash during her trip. Several times, she even saw the creature sticking out of her right nostril but assumed it was just a blood clot.

It was only on Oct 9, while she was in the shower, that she realised something was wriggling in her nose.

She immediately went to the accident and emergency department at Edinburgh's Royal Infirmary, where doctors removed the parasite with forceps and tweezers.

"He was about as long as my forefinger but as fat as my thumb," said Ms Liverani as quoted in the Daily Mirror.

"I asked the doctor what would've happened if I hadn't gone to hospital and she said he'd probably have worked his way into my brain."