This is the terrifying moment a wild monitor lizard rampaged into a hairdresser's salon while customers were having their hair styled.

CCTV footage shows the Godzilla-like reptile darting through the door and sliding across the tiled floor in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand, on November 22.

The creature slithered under the salon chairs before a panicked worker jumped on the sofa as her colleague cowered in the corner.

It then scuried to the back of the salon and hid until rescuers arrived to remove it from the property.

Hairdresser Sanaja, 42, said: ‘We were cleaning up in the afternoon when the lizard entered from the door. It was so fast. My instinct was to find higher ground and keep my feet off the floor.'

No one was hurt in the incident, and the animal was released back into the wild.

Sanaja added: ‘I don't know where it came from, but I think we should keep the doors closed.'

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