A two-year-old girl got her own back when a snake sank its fangs into her – and bit back.

The toddler, identified only by her initials as S.E., was playing in the back garden of her family home in the village of Kantar in the city of Bingol in the Turkish province of the same name, when her screams brought neighbours running on 10th August.

To the neighbours’ horror, the youngster had a 50-centimetre (20-inch) snake clamped in her mouth and a wicked-looking bite mark on her lower lip.

After killing the snake – reported local media – the neighbour performed first aid and called paramedics.

The youngster was rushed to Bingol Maternity and Children’s Hospital where she was put under observation for 24 hours.

She is now reported to be well and recovering.

Her relieved dad Mehmet Ercan – who was at work when the snake struck – explained: “Allah has protected her, really.

“Our neighbours have told me that the snake was in the hand of my child, she was playing with it and then it bit her.

“Then she has bitten the snake back as a reaction.”