Footage shows a new species of newt discovered living 2,000 metres below sea level in a remote part of northern Thailand.

Researchers found the newts near a water source in the Doi Phu Kha National Park in Nan province.

Porrawee Promchote, a lecturer on biology at the Chulalongkorn University, said the new creatures had been named the Doi Phu Kha Newt, or in local language Kratang Nam Doi Phu Kha.

He added: ''The discovery of the newt means the ecology of Doi Phu Kha is pollution-free because newts will only survive in a clean environment.''

Researched backed with funding from France have spent around two decades studying newts, a type of salamander.

They said that the population of newts had disappeared due to the environment becoming more polluted. However, the discovery of the new type of news suggests that the environment there is clean.

The team found around 50 Doi Phu Kha newts living near the water resource on the mountain, which is 1,796 metres above the mean sea level.