FORMER Celtic player Frank McAvennie has told of the moment he killed a deadly snake while on holiday.

The 58-year-old, from Glasgow, resorted to drastic action, fearing the viper would attack his friends’ baby and seven dogs in sunny Cyprus.

McAvennie described how the three-foot snake spat venom and leaped in his direction during the confrontation in the early hours of the morning.

Hearing his wife’s screams, the ex-Scotland striker said: “She said it’s one of the isle’s most venomous snakes, so you can imagine I was s******* myself.

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“We’d been out and had a good night, then I heard screaming and shouting.

“I went to see what was going on and their dogs were barking and going mad. The big snake had managed to get into the compound and was near the house.

“I tried to get it out with a brush, but it wasn’t for moving. I’d had a few beers but that sobered me right up.

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“If it got one of the dogs, it would have killed them.

“I tried again to get the snake out, but it was spitting and lunging so I grabbed a big stick and hit it first time.

“I thought that was it so I went over to grab it and it moved. I thought ‘for God sake’ and gave it one more whack then took it outside,” he added, reports The Scottish Sun.