Amusing footage shows how a monkey keeps watch on a tree before walking into a convenience store to help itself to food as soon as there is no one inside.

The macaque reportedly shows up almost daily to steal yoghurt and other food items from a shop in Guiyang, Guizhou province, south-western China.

CCTV footage from August 4 shows the monkey perched on a tree outside the entrance to the shop and patiently waiting for the cashier to step out.

Then, as soon as the store was empty, it calmly walked inside and headed over to the nearest aisle. It grabbed as much yoghurt as it could carry before it ran back outside and climbed back onto the tree.

The monkey repeated the same exact process and this time ignored all the people sitting outside. They all tried to make the monkey to drop the food it stole, but it quickly moved away from them.

The store manager Yang told local media that the macaque comes almost daily, sometimes as early as six in the morning. The convenience store is close to Qianling Mountain in Guiyang, so it attracts monkeys living there.

Yang added that they incur losses of CNY 20 (GBP 2.1) to CNY 30 (GBP 3.2) daily due to the macaque's actions, which she covers herself.

Officials from the Yungyan District Natural Resources Bureau stated that businesses can try to chase away the stealing monkeys but must not harm them.