Terrified villagers caught a rampaging crocodile that escaped from a nearby farm then strapped it down to a trailer.

The 10ft long beast sparked panic after prowling through homes in Chonburi, eastern Thailand this morning (01/10).

A shocked local woman cried for help from her neighbours and Kol Maithong, 47, came to assist. He gathered 10 men from the village and they chased after the croc.

The men pounced on the want-away reptile, which weighed around 300 lbs, then tied ropes around its body before carrying it to their yard.

The crocodile farm owner came to take his animal back and offered the group 15,000 baht (398 GBP) as a reward.

However, Kol was sympathised the owner and decided to accepted only 10,000 baht (265 BBP).

Kolsaid: "We have already caught seven crocodiles so far because we live near his farm and his animals always escape.

"I knew that he was worried about his crocodile and I did not want to cause him more trouble so I accepted his money, but took less to be kind.''

The Department of Fisheries was contacted about the loose crocodile and they visited the farm to find more than 2,000 creatures and claimed it was operating illegally.

Officials found a broken fence that led to the escape of the crocodile but they unable to find any licenses for running a crocodile farm.

Deputy Governor Sombat Norawara ordered the farm to shut down immediately while they process paperwork to take action against the owner.

Sombat said: "The farm has to stop any operations immediately and the crocodiles will be moved to a safer place and remain there while the place is repaired.

"Initially, the owner will be charge for operating a farm without license and I will discuss the case with the higher authority first to decide on any additional charges."