This is the terrifying moment a boa constrictor was pulled from the ceiling of a restaurant in Brazil as it tried to sink its fangs into a police officer.

Diners fled in horror when the killed snake was spotted with its coils wrapped around wooden rafters at the open-air eatery in Salvador, Bahai State, on October 11.

Video footage shows three military police officers trying to get the slippery customer out of the ceiling.

One officer on a ladder was seen slipping a hook around the boa's body as he pulled it away from the wooden beams.

Diners, who had fled to another part of the restaurant for safety, screamed as he let go of the snake's head and it darted forward to bite him with lightning speed.

The officer dodged out of the way and while one officer held the boa's head, he managed to unwrap its coils from the rafters.

Finally, to a huge round of applause from relieved diners, the officers carried off the snake.

Boa constrictors are not venomous, but their bites can cause painful puncture wounds. Much like a puthon, they then crush their victims into suffocation while swallowing them whole.

Police later said the snake was in good health and had been sent to the Wild Animal Screening Center for checks before releasing it back into the wild.