A deadly king cobra gave a family a fright after it was found hiding under the bathroom sink.

The ferocious serpent had built its nest inside the property which was being sold in Krabi province, southern Thailand.

When the new family took over the house and were preparing to move in, they saw snakeskin near the toilet so they called the rescuers for help on May 29.

The volunteer snake catchers searched the house and found the cobra hiding under the sink but it refused to come out.

Rak Apichai, one of the volunteer wranglers, said: ‘We placed a phone under the sink to see its movement, so it was filmed. The snake refused to come out though. It had been living there before the new owners moved in, so the snake believed it was its home.'

The rescuers used a rod to pull the snake out. When it was finally secured, the snake measured 5ft-long. It was taken to a sack and released by the rescuers to the wild.

The king cobra is a venomous snake species endemic to southern and Southeast Asia. It is the world's longest venomous snake, with one of the largest on record captured in Thailand.