LONDON (REUTERS) - A three-metre reticulated python is loose in the English university city of Cambridge, police said, after they received reports of sightings early at the weekend.

"Police have located the owner but not the Reticulated Python confirmed to be 9ft long," police said, adding that the creature had been seen in the Lovell Road area of the city.

The reticulated python, which is the largest snake native to Asia, kills its prey by constriction rather than venom.

It normally eats mammals such as rats, but there have been several reported human fatalities, both in the wild and captivity.

Anyone who spots the snake was advised to call the police.