A large monitor lizard with its head and torso stuck in a drain pipe was rescued in Thailand.

The sizeable beast, measuring around 5ft long, was found dangling from a sewer pipe after being seen in the grounds of a nearby factory in Chachoengsao province on August 22.

Security guard Ittipon Nuamwat, 53, saw the lizard race out of the facility and jump into the water before calling rescue volunteers when he noticed that it had become trapped in a pipe roughly 0.6-ft wide.

Wielding plastic poles, the officers jumped down into the narrow canal and wrenched the creature loose from its escape route-turned-prison.

The process took them an hour due to the reptile's massive girth.

After it was freed, the monitor lizard stayed motionless on the grass while recovering its strength, with the rescuers dousing it with water for hydration.

Ittipon said: ‘My colleague and other factory workers tried pulling it out but the lizard was too fat so we had to contact the local animal specialists.'

Asian water monitor lizards live in canals and ponds in large cities in Thailand where they feed on fish, snakes, frogs and scraps of food left by humans.

The reptiles are aggressive when threatened and have a mildly venomous bite which sometimes carries harmful bacteria. The Godzilla-like reptiles are also a protected species in the country so their population thrives.