A large alligator backed away from a robot camera probing an underground pipe in Florida.

The 5ft-long reptile came face to face with a camera-equipped device investigating potholes in the road above the pipe network below the city of Oviedo, in the United States.

The bot's footage shows the bizarre encounter as its lights picked up the gator's eerie glowing eyes further down the pipe.

As the robot moved forward, the alligator remained motionless as its jaws filled with razor-sharp teeth come into view.

Then - as the bot kept coming - the 'gator's nerve cracked and it turned tail to flee down the pipe.

The alligator stopped and tried to confront the robot again but then turned and ran rapidly away before the footage ends.

An official from the City of Oviedo said on Tuesday, May 9: "You've heard of Snakes on a Plane? How about Gator in a Pipe?

"On May 5, a Stormwater crew was out at Lockwood Blvd near Riverside to investigate a series of potholes that have appeared in the roadway.

"The crew has a robot, which is a four-wheel robotic camera that can go into the pipes and investigate any anomalies under the roadway.

"They usually bring the robot out to inspect when there are potential roadway defects to see if any pipes have leaks, cracks, defects, etc. underground.

"On Friday's inspection, as you'll see in the video, they came across a five-foot alligator!

"At first, they thought it was a toad and in the video, you see two little glowing eyes until you get closer - but when it turned around, they saw the long tail of the alligator and followed it through the pipes!

"You can see in the video they got about 340 feet in before the robot got stuck on a little indentation and the alligator meandered off.

"Just another reason not to go wandering down into the Stormwater pipes! Thank goodness our crews have a robot".

A large alligator backed away from a robot camera probing an underground pipe in Florida.

The 5ft-long reptile came face to face with a camera-equipped device investigating potholes in the road above the pipe network below the city of Oviedo, in the United States.

The bot's footage shows the bizarre encounter as its lights picked up the 'gator's eerie glowing eyes further down the pipe.

As the robot moved forward, the alligator remained motionless as its jaws filled with razor-sharp teeth come into view.

Then - as the bot kept coming - the 'gator's nerve cracked and it turned tail to flee down the pipe.

The alligator stopped and tried to confront the robot again but then turned and ran rapidly away before the footage ends.

An official from the City of Oviedo said on Tuesday, May 9: 'You've heard of Snakes on a Plane? How about Gator in a Pipe?

'On May 5, a Stormwater crew was out at Lockwood Blvd near Riverside to investigate a series of potholes that have appeared in the roadway.

'The crew has a robot, which is a four-wheel robotic camera that can go into the pipes and investigate any anomalies under the roadway.

'They usually bring the robot out to inspect when there are potential roadway defects to see if any pipes have leaks, cracks, defects, etc. underground.

'On Friday's inspection, as you'll see in the video, they came across a five-foot alligator!

'At first, they thought it was a toad and in the video, you see two little glowing eyes until you get closer - but when it turned around, they saw the long tail of the alligator and followed it through the pipes!

'You can see in the video they got about 340 feet in before the robot got stuck on a little indentation and the alligator meandered off.

'Just another reason not to go wandering down into the Stormwater pipes! Thank goodness our crews have a robot.'