Caring locals released a monitor lizard that was wedged in a concrete gap under stairs outside a Buddhist temple.

Phakadao Hodkhunthot and her friends visited the religious compound of Khao Sanam Jang temple to pray when they saw the hapless animal struggling to free itself from the narrow space in Lopburi province, Thailand, on September 20.

Footage shows the women staying with the scared animal while waiting for help from other locals who knew how to handle it.

Soon after, a man arrived and tried to push the animal off the space using a bamboo stick while his friends poured bottled water on it to make it slip off.

The reptile was successfully removed from the stairs and released at the back of the temple, with a thick forest.

Asian water monitor lizards normally live in canals, swamps, sewers and ponds in cities in Thailand. They feed on fish, snakes, frogs and scraps of food left by humans.

The reptiles are aggressive when threatened and have a mildly venomous bite, which sometimes carries harmful bacteria. The Godzilla-like reptiles are also a protected species in the country so their population thrives.