A stubborn king cobra hid inside a car engine – evading snake wranglers for five hours.

The 10ft-long venomous reptile slithered into the vehicle while it was parked next to a longan fruit farm in Chanthaburi province, Thailand on February 4.

Driver Prasong Somsud, 62, returned from work on the farm and noticed the cobra disappearing under the car.

He called the rescue team for help who tried to extract the animal but without success.

The defiant snake evaded the volunteers as they tried to lure it out, moving across the car wheels whenever a rescuer tried to poke it.

The car owner eventually decided to take the vehicle to a nearby garage for them dismantle some of its parts and create an opening for the rescuers to grab the snake.

Mechanics mounted the vehicle on a high platform and started removing the wheels where the snake was believed to have hidden but it still refused to come out.

After five hours, when the team had taken several parts of the car, the snake was caught after it squeezed into the space under the windshield wiper.

Relieved Prasong thanked the animal rescuers for their help and patience before they drove the snake into the forest for release.

He said: ‘That snake caused us a lot of trouble. I’m just relieved that it was taken out now and was not hurt after hours of hiding inside my car.’