A shocked father found a deadly 9ft-long king cobra hiding inside his car engine.

Niwat Charoenpak, 30, was with his wife and daughter when he noticed their pet dog barking angrily at their vehicle while it was parked in Chanthaburi province, Thailand on January 16.

When the pooch didn't stop yapping, he crouched down to look underneath then opened the car bonnet - only to find the deadly snake staring back at him.

The worried father pushed his family away from the car and called the reptile specialists to catch the beast.

Niwat said: ‘If it wasn’t because of my dog, the snake would have still been inside the car waiting to attack my family. My pet dog saved my life, or possibly my

The team approached the snake and dragged it out but due to the animal’s strength, it took more than 30 minutes before finally capturing it and putting it into a container.

The reptile specialists carried the box back with them and released the snake back into the wild away from the neighbourhood.