A massive monitor lizard tucked into leftover lunch in front of shocked students at a university.

The 5ft-long wild beast emerged from bushes before it was seen devouring a cup of green tea and a tray of rice that youngsters had been eating for dinner.

Astonished pupils watched as the hungry reptile ate the snacks at the Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand, on Wednesday, November 16.

Shocked onlooker Jinjutha Sangchen, 18, recorded the ravenous lizard as it feasted on the food for several minutes.

Jinjutha said: 'I was walking around the campus when I noticed the monitor lizard in the yard. It went straight to the picnic table and started eating the food that was left there. It was even drinking a cup of green tea.

'I was amazed by it. Nobody was scared of the lizard because it was concentrating on the food.'

Jinjutha said that lecturers told her the monitor lizard usually lives in the bushes and streams on the university campus.

It has been nicknamed 'Night' by staff and pupils because it sometimes emerges when the sun has gone down and students have returned home.

However, this was the first time the lizard had taken anybody's lunch.

Jinjutha added: 'He was hungry because it had not rained for a while, so there wasn't much food around for him. Thankfully he was not aggressive. He finished the food the went back into the bushes on the edge of the field.'

Asian water monitor lizards live in canals, swamps, sewers and ponds in cities around Thailand. They normally eat 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.