A taxi driver who had just parked his car while waiting for a customer found a four-foot-long cobra inside his vehicle. He heard the animal slithering and then saw him disappearing.

He got scared and immediately contacted rescuer Saidas Kusal. The man went to the car parking and found the snake inside the car hood. He caught it with a stick.

Saidas said: “Cars are an ideal place for cobras to hide. It is good the driver saw the snake at the right time. Finding it while driving would have been a nightmare".

The cobra was released into the wild.

The footage was filmed in Pune in western India.

A taxi driver had parked his car next to a park and was waiting for his passenger in Pune in western India.

He saw a four-feet-long cobra approach the vehicle, slither beneath and vanish. When he checked he could not find it. On a hunch, he opened the hood and could see the tip of its tail.

Alarmed, he called rescuer Saidas Kusal, who went with a colleague, to rescue the cobra.

They found the hiding place of the cobra and poked it with a stick to make it come out. When the cobra tried to flee they caught it by the tail only to have it flare up in anger. But the experienced rescuers caught it easily and released it into a natural habitat later.

Saidas said: “Cars are an ideal place for cobras to hide. It is good the driver was alert and saw the snake in time. Finding it while on the move would have been a nightmare.”