This is the moment a python that was stuck in a concrete manhole cover hole was rescued by volunteers in Thailand.

The thick snake was seen by passerby Sutamat Aonkaew, 35, with its tail sticking out of a tiny opening on the road surface in Chonburi province on August 15.

Footage shows how the snake writhed as it tried and failed to twist itself free, prompting Sutamat to call reptile specialists for help.

When the officers arrived, they crowbarred the heavy sewer lid open and found that the serpent had been slithering through a pipe when its bottom half became stuck in the concrete cover.

Its stomach bulged reportedly after feasting on too many rodents.

The volunteers then unknotted the creature and pulled it out of the pipe. The furious 10ft-long reptile lunged at its rescuers before being subdued and sealed inside a sack.

Sutamat said: ‘I found the snake on the manhole cover at 5 in the morning. I think it came here to eat the house rats and tried to escape through the manhole, but it had eaten too much.'

The reticulated python is found throughout Southeast Asia, where they live in forests, swamps, canals and even in cities, causing them to come into conflict with humans. The species is one of the world's largest snakes and can eat humans, cats, dogs, birds, rats and other snakes.