This is the heartwarming moment an exhausted egret bird stuck in discarded nets by the river was rescued.

The white-feathered creature was searching for food along the banks during low tide when its beak was caught in garbage in Nakhon Pathom province, Thailand, on June 28.

It tried to pull its head away fro trash without success and was covered in grey sludge when passing locals on a boat spotted it.

Footage shows the tired bird barely moving as Tup Meesupwattana tried to extract it with a net. But he had to untie the string that was wrapped around the creature's mouth and finally let it go.

Tup said: ‘It felt so good to help the bird in need. I hope we all learn to take care of our garbage so this doesn't happen again.'

The egret was not inured and flew away after being freed while Tup and his friend moved on with their boats.