You may be glad to see the back of your sixth formers, or simply worried about how they’ll cope independently when they start university in the autumn.

But while most students have a reputation for consuming simple fayre such as beans on toast and pasta, your school leavers can now look forward to a few more exciting items on the menu.

A 6ft snake, a full-size air hockey table and scuba diving suit with air tank and flippers are some of the things student accommodation provider Unite found left behind when students departed for the summer. “After a year of working hard and playing hard, it is no surprise that students forget to pack everything at the end of term - and what they leave behind never fails to surprise us,” said its sales and marketing director, Nathan Goddard.

“From the risque to the ridiculous, we often wonder how these items make it into their rooms in the first place.”

Other objects found included a life-size skeleton, two budgies, a giant white pet rabbit and perhaps most bizarre - a 10ft inflatable pool filled with water.