A monitor lizard was caught after hiding in a pick-up truck's engine.

The 4ft long reptile took shelter in the engine compartment of an Isuzu pick-up parked in a village in Surin province, Thailand on May 1.

The driver, Por, was alerted to the lizard's presence by a stray dog barking at something under the vehicle.

She caught a glimpse of it hiding in the truck's chassis and initially thought it was a snake, but later recognised it as a monitor lizard when the animal poked its head out.

Shocked Por called a rescue team to remove the creature as she was pregnant and could not deal with it herself.

It took an hour for the specialists to catch the beast as it hid deeper in the engine compartment.

A tow truck had to be called to raise the truck, with the rescuers dragging the 20-kg lizard by the tail from underneath instead. They bound its limbs and later released it back to its natural habitat.

Por said: 'I heard a dog barking at my truck at around 11 AM. It was so persistent that I checked under the truck thinking I might find a snake. A water monitor lizard greeted me instead.'

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.