A large monitor lizard was caught hiding in a kitchen of a car showroom in Thailand.

The 3ft-long reptile startled workers when they entered the pantry to eat lunch in Samut Prakan province on May 2.

It was left inside the room after the workers fled and called the rescue volunteers to evacuate it.

Footage shows the creature hiding under the table before a rescuer secured the animal’s neck with a noose and dragged it outside.

After the rescue, a worker who had just arrived asked the volunteers to return the reptile to the kitchen, saying: ‘The monitor lizards come back here because our cooking lady fed them as they are lucky and help us with our sales. They don’t harm anyone but since our cooking lady was on a rest day, the lizards entered the kitchen looking for her.’

However, the wildlife handlers still took the lizard with them as it was a wild reptile and should be released in its proper habitat.

Monitor lizards are a common sight across Thailand including in the capital city Bangkok where they lived on canals and rivers. These reptiles are a protected species in the country so their population thrived. They were usually shy among humans but have fangs that could pierce through the skin and cause injuries.