A deadly cobra was caught hiding inside the engine of a nurse’s car in front of a hospital in Thailand.

Health worker Pharadee Ruamgrungsri, 59, arrived for work and parked her car near a tree in Pakchong Nana Hospital in Nakhon Ratchasima province on March 17.

The medic was later contacted by a nearby stall vendor who said that a cobra had been slithering around her car so she returned to have a look.

When she arrived at the parking space, she saw the dark creature slithering on the road around her vehicle appearing to look for a way in.

She then tried to chase the snake away from the car but it was too fast and slithered inside the gaps of the front wheels to hide so she called the animal rescuers for help.

The nurse said she noticed the snake was venomous so she did not want to take any risks.

She said: ‘My friend called me while at work saying that a giant cobra was trying to enter my car. I tried to beat the snake to my car but I was too late so I had to call the emergency services.’

When the rescuers arrived, they tried to lure the animal out using a pole. The team checked the wheels but the snake had hidden itself deep inside the engine.

They kept the engine cover opened to prevent the snake from moving around and forced it out using the long pole with a noose.

After almost half an hour, they were able to catch the 3ft-long snake by its neck through the wheels where it had previously entered the car.

One of the rescuers, Jakkarin Nilkamhaeng, 20, said: ‘We searched the car for 30 minutes and saw that the snake went deep inside the wheel near the engine. We were able to take it out safely without damaging the car.’

The car owner thanked the rescuers for their assistance before the team drove away with the cobra to be released into the wild.