This is the astonishing moment a shopper fell into a drain when the manhole cover broke.

The man had just climbed out of the back seat of a pickup truck which parked in front of a row of shops in Chachoengsao, Thailand on February 28.

CCTV footage shows how he walked over the faulty concrete cover, which immediately snapped in half.

The man disappeared from view as he plunged into the filthy drain below.

Fortunately he was able to avoid being swept away by the torrents of sewage below and locals came to help him climb out of the sewer.

He told them: ‘It was a hard landing but I stayed on my feet. I have scratches on my elbows and legs.’

Anan Lamcharoen, 32, the owner of a nearby bakery shop, arrived with a ladder to help the man climb out of the hole.

He was out of the drain in under 10 minutes. Aside from being soaked in dirty water, the man had a few scratches on his arms and legs due to the fall.

The shopper and his friend went home to clean up and treat his wounds before they could get infected by the sewerage water.

Meanwhile, Anan placed boxes around the hole to warn passers-by about the road hazard.

Anan said they will report the incident to local officials so they can check other manholes in the area.

She said: ‘I don’t want similar accidents to happen again. If he was alone that time and the drainage was filled with water, something worse could have happened. I am relieved he was not seriously hurt, but the local government need to do more to maintain the infrastructure.’

Officials from the local authority appeared on local television promising to fix the manhole cover and others on the same road.