A hapless python was rescued after getting stuck in a 12ft-deep cellar in a house in southern Thailand.

The 5ft-long snake slithered inside a house looking for food when it was spotted by a resident in Nakhon Si Thammarat province on June.

The house owner heard trhe hissing sounds then flashed a torch in the direction of the snake on a crossbeam which startled the animal.

It then fell onto the deep hole below so animal rescuers were called onto the property to help take it out.

The house owner said: ‘The snake was on the crossbeam while I was eating in the dining area. I then flashed a torch on it before it fell. I called the emergency team as I feared it would die below.’

The team used a pole with a noose to catch the snake and pull it out of the hole. It was freed after almost half an hour.

It was taken inside a sack before taken by the team with them to be released back into the wild later.