A pet fish that was being kept inside a cramped restaurant tank made a leap for freedom - but landed straight into a pot of boiling stew.

CCTV footage captured the fish's unexpected escape as it propelled itself outside the water and into the pot, that had been left out for customers at the eaterie in Bozhou, in China's eastern Anhui province.

A woman approached the boiling liquid, apparently meant for guests' self-service, when she noticed the fish being cooked alive inside it.

Another woman then came and lifted the fish with a ladle, but after seeing it is already too late to save it, she left it in and covers the pot with a lid.

The restaurant owner, named He, later said the incident occurred after one customer forgot to cover the pot after helping themselves to a refill before the incident on May 17.

He explained that she had bought the fish quite recently, and suspected it might not have been used to the tank's small size.

She said: 'There are bullfrogs in it, and there are a lot of fish. It could have jumped out because it did not quite fit in with all the other creatures living there.

'I think it's incredible, the fish was so naughty.'

Later, the staff reportedly fished out the dead creature from the bowl and the liquid was poured away to be replaced with fresh soup.