This is the heartwarming moment tourists and lifeguards cut loose a sea turtle that was entangled in a fishing net at a Thai beach.

The holidaymakers were relaxing on Patong Beach on vacation island Phuket when the net washed ashore on June 28.

Caught inside was a large sea turtle waving its flippers trying to break loose. The tourists then called lifeguards to free the marine animal.

Footage shows the crew slicing away at the net using small knives. When the turtle was freed, they pushed it across the sand and helped it crawl back into the ocean.

Onlooker Som Prasong, a lifeguard on the beach, said: 'I went over when I saw a big crowd of people. They were looking at a turtle that was stuck in old fishing nets. It was not injured so we released it back into the sea.'