Victoria police had to carry out a “bizarre” welfare check after a venomous tiger snake slithered up the leg of a driver while she was driving at a major freeway with the speed of 80km/h.

The police said they were contacted and called to Monash Freeway near the Toorak Rd exit in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne on Saturday morning, according to The Guardian. 

They received reports of a woman, barefoot, trying to flag down passing cars.

The police were told by the woman that she had been driving when she felt something on her foot and when she looked to see what it was, she found a snake “slithering up her leg”.

The snake was later identified as a tiger, one of the world’s most venomous and deadly snakes, who had curled up under the steering wheel of the woman’s car.

“Remarkably, she was able to fend the snake off her and weave through traffic before pulling over and leaping out of her car to safety,” the Victoria Police said.

Paramedics were called on the site to make sure that the woman had not been bitten by the snake and luckily a spokesperson for Ambulance Victoria said she had not been hurt and they could not find any puncture wounds on her body.

“Tim from Melbourne Snake Control was contacted, quickly identified the tiger snake (the fourth most venomous snake in the world) and volunteered his services,” the police said. 

“Passing motorists were left in bewilderment as the massive snake was safely removed from the vehicle,” a police spokesperson said.

“And so ended one of the more bizarre welfare checks you’ll ever hear about,” the spokesperson added.

The snake catcher stated that the woman had travelled from the south-west Victoria where the snake is believed to have sneaked into her car and then curled under the steering wheel.

The snake has been taken to a reptile vet to get it checked for parasites and was cleared to be released into a local catchment area, which the catcher said was a “safe place right away from people and pets”.