Suspected poachers were arrested after wild monitor lizards were strung up and sold on the roadside to passing drivers.

The reptiles were tied to a pole to prevent them from escaping and laid on the pavement of a footbridge in Pampanga, the Philippines.

Concerned locals reported the scene to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources office, which carried out an entrapment operation on September 9.

Authorities posed as buyers and questioned the group of two men and one woman, who were allegedly openly selling the lizards .

Officials later pounced on their stall and and seized 11 monitor lizards each up to one metre long from the suspects.

The poachers reportedly sold the lizards for 300 pesos (4.80GBP) for juveniles, and 900 pesos (14.40GBP) for adults with bigger size.

They were taken to the police station for questioning while the lizards were taken to a nearby zoo for rehabilitation until they can be released to the wild.

Collecting, hunting, processing, or trading of wildlife in the country are punishable of up to 12 years, and fined of up to 1,000,000 pesos.