A wild monkey broke into a man's home and ate an apple while the owner slept on the sofa.

Surveillance camera footage captured in Guiyang in Guizhou, China, showed the naughty macaque standing on top of the TV cabinet and munching on an apple at around 5 pm on March 10.

It then moved from the cabinet to an armchair, before hopping on top of a desk where it found a bag of cherries.

At the same time, the resident was peacefully sleeping on the couch - unaware of the primate intruder raiding his home.

Just moments later the monkey jumped from the desk and fled the house through an open window, after hearing a noise from the neighbouring rooms.

A young woman entered the living room and headed in the same direction as the monkey. However, it had already escaped into nearby trees.

China is home to 21 different species of wild monkeys, including gibbons, macaques, leaf monkeys, and even snub-nosed monkeys.

However, many of them are now endangered due to habitat loss and poaching.