Farmers in a village in northern India had a fight on their hands on Saturday when they tried to remove a 15-foot python from a paddy field.

According to a witness, the farmers were harvesting rice in Vazhilpur village in Uttar Pradesh state when the giant snake lunged at one of them.

They then caught the snapping reptile by the tail and tried to place it in a bag.

Eventually, they managed to get the animal under control and it was handed over to the forest department.

A dramatic footage has emerged of a massive 15-ft-long python repeatedly trying to attack its rescuer in norther Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

The incident happened at 10:30 on September 28 in Vazhilpur village of Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh.

According to the eyewitnesses, a group of farmers were busy harvesting paddy crop in the field. Suddenly the 15-feet-long python tried to attack one of them. Farmer Gyanendar Tyagi jumped and managed to save his life.

Hearing his panic-stricken cries, fellow farmers rushed to the spot and tried to catch hold of the snake.

They informed the forest rangers about the presence of python in the their field. Without waiting for the rescue team to arrive at the scene, one of the brave farmers decided to capture the python. After a few attempts, he managed to catch the python by its tail and the other tried to catch hold of its head.

But the angry reptile wouldn't just give in. It tried attacking the man holding its tail repeatedly.

Finally, the brave farmer got hold of its head and tried to thrust it into sack.

Gyanendar Tyagi said: "It was a near death experience for me. I have had encounters with snakes, but this one was massive. It was so big that it took three people to lift the reptile and carry it to a rescue vehicle parked on the road."

The forest department team reached the spot and took the python into their possession.