A 10ft-long python sparked panic after it was caught slithering across the roof of an abandoned house.

Residents noticed the reptile trying to get inside their neighbour’s empty home in Chanthaburi, Thailand, on February 25.

Terrified onlookers immediately called animal rescuers who rushed to the property with long sticks.

The unoccupied house had a high ceiling so the rescuers had difficulty reaching the reptile so they used their tools to push the wild animal off balance.

However, the clever snake would only shift its body on the other side of the roof beam whenever one of the rescuers tried to push it off.

After almost half an hour, the team decided to poke holes into the old roof instead so they could properly shove the snake off the high ceiling.

Soon after, the snake fell to the floor inside the house and it was quickly grabbed by the rescuers.

One of the rescuers said the snake may have found the abandoned house a suitable place to live where it could be dry and dark.

He said: ‘They like to nest in the dark where they are undisturbed. The house is empty but we could not let it live here.

‘The wild animal is a danger to the people and it could also be hurt if it was spotted by surprise.’

The team placed the snake inside a sack before driving away with it to release it back into the wild.