It was seven inches long, two inches wide, pink, stripy and the English family who discovered it hiding under a bed thought it could be a dangerous lizard. Photo: Reuters

LONDON: It was seven inches long, two inches wide, pink, stripy and the English family who discovered it hiding under a bed thought it could be a dangerous lizard.

But after the terrified family called an animal welfare charity to apprehend the ?creature? at their home in Coventry, central England, it was revealed that it was something far less sinister - a dirty sock.

Animal Collection Officer Vic Hurr, from the RSPCA charity, said she had warily approached the ?lizard? after being alerted to its presence last Friday.

?It was protruding from the edge of the bed and it wasn?t moving at all,? Hurr said. ?As it wasn?t very light, I got out my torch to see better and that?s when I realized it wasn?t a lizard at all.?

Hurr said she had left the family with some guidance, and a warning.

?I advised the young girl whose bedroom it was to tidy her room and to take care of her socks, but not before reminding her that another one will turn up soon as they are usually in pairs,? she said.