Someone in Croydon has venomous snakes, and the council has had to fork out more than £600 for inspections before a licence could be issued.

A Freedom of Information response shows that just one dangerous animal licence has been issued in the borough since 2016.

It was for venomous snakes.

And it made the council £198 in 2016/17 and £202 the following year from the licence fee.

But to issue the licence the council had to sort out an inspection of the premises the dangerous wild animal would be kept.

In this case a private property rather than a business.

The inspections came at a cost of £298 in 2016/17 and £307 the following year.

This is £205 more than the council actually made from the application fees for the licences.

A spokeswoman for Croydon Council added: “Like other local authorities, we use the City of London vet service for animal welfare and the fee is set by them.”

The licences are issued under the  Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 and the City of London Corporation is responsible for “ensuring the legislative compliance” for imported animals across the whole of London.

And individual local authorities are responsible for setting the application fee for licences.

Other dangerous wild animals which need a licence to have include monkeys, as well as certain reptiles and spiders.