A student was shocked when she returned from a holiday in Thailand to Wales and opened her suitcase - to find a giant TOAD. (Still photographs added to the end of video sequence, see news desk for original photos.)

Hannah Turian, 20, believes the stowaway amphibian hopped into one of her shoes before she packed to travel more than 5,000 miles from Bangkok to Cardiff.

The shocked young woman found the massive creature peering back at her from among her clothes before quickly calling her family to help catch it.

Footage shows the animal hidden in Hannah's clothes as she shrieks with fright before the animal went hopping around her bathroom floor on Saturday night, August 6.

Speaking today, Hannah said she named the toad 'Robbert' before it was captured and handed over to a reptile expert to be cared for. They said the toad was healthy and recovering well following an estimated 35 hours on the road and in the air.

Hannah said: 'After the toad had gone, we just sat in our lounge and were like, what has just happened?'

The Cardiff University student was in Thailand visiting her aunt after teaching English there for a month.

She told local media she flew into Heathrow Airport before returning to her student house in Cardiff on Saturday night, August 6, and unpacked her suitcase the next morning.

Hannah added: 'When I first saw the toad moving I was on the phone to my mum, I just closed the suitcase, and ran out.

'Me and my housemate then carried it upstairs into the bathroom. We unzipped the suitcase, and there's a toad sitting in the corner of it looking at us.

'When I arrived my suitcase got scanned before I could leave the airport. So I don't know how it wasn't spotted.'

Thailand is currently experiencing its annual rainy season, with flooded roads and canals. Toads often emerge following heavy rainstorms.

Hannah said that after finding the toad, she checked the RSPCA website, but 'it didn't have information about smuggling a toad from Thailand'.

The student posted on Facebook and was told about a rescue centre for reptiles in Cwmbran, Torfaen.

Reptile expert Jackie Hamilton, 40, who owns 150 different species of reptiles and has been working with them since she was 16, drove over to Hannah's home. She said it was 'the first time' she has heard of one travelling back from Asia.

She identified the reptile as the non-venomous Common Asian Toad.

Jackie said: 'They are usually found in Thailand and neighbouring areas. They often live in built-up areas, so it is not a surprise that this one found its way into Hannah's shoe.

'Because the toad had been in a suitcase, we flushed him over with a two-litre bottle of spring water. We also offered him a couple of different bugs, so we could feed him up a bit.

'He was quite happy about that.'