This is the moment a large monitor lizard broke a resident's gate as it escaped from a guard dog in Thailand.

The creature wandered out of the sewers in front of a house when it saw the pooch in Saraburi province on November 18.

However, a portion of the home's steel fence broke off while the reptile squeezed under the gaps to run away from the dog.

CCTV footage shows the monitor lizard wriggling under the narrow space between the gate and the floor.

Animal rescuer Somkiat Khunsaen said: ‘We were called to find the lizard. The house owner heard the sound from the gates at night.

'They thought there was a thief but when they checked the security camera, they saw a lizard.'

The residents were terrified of the large creature so they closed the windows and doors until the volunteers arrived.

In the morning, the rescuers found the monitor lizard under the car. They chased the big but agile reptile until they caught it at the back of the property.

Rescue volunteer Somkiat added: 'That big lizard was naughty. It broke off the gate and then damaged the car. What a troublemaker.'

The monitor lizard was later released back into the wild away from the homes.