Villagers were terrified after finding a massive python crawling through a storm drain just metres away from a busy market in Thailand.

Alarmed locals called a rescue team when they spotted the enormous snake slithering under the steel grating outside a pawn shop in Nakhon Nayok province on September 26. The predator was seen flicking its tongue as it crawled through the cramped space.

Rescue volunteers later arrived and pried the drain cover open, quickly catching the large creature using a snake pole.

The python tried to thrash free and even constricted the pole in a bid to retaliate, but its head was held in place by the noose.

The 10ft long serpent was then sealed inside a sack to later be freed into the wild.

Onlooker Khun June said: ‘A snake is the last thing you expect to see while visiting the market. I saw people moving their vehicles away in fear after seeing the python's rearing its head.'

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.