Godzilla was caught looking for a quick rinse to cool off - climbing into a washing machine at a laundrette.

The 5ft long monitor lizard scampered into the building and made a beeline for the device in Chonburi, Thailand, on May 6.

CCTV footage shows the beast climbing into the drum and waiting inside for 20 minutes as worried locals called the emergency services.

A firemen eventually arrived and prodded the reptile with a stick to dislodge it from the washing machine. It then scurried away with the man in pursuit, ensuring it was forced away into nearby undergrowth.

The firemen joked: 'We all know not to put leather in the washing machine. Looks like the monitor lizard wasn't bothered about getting mixed up with delicates.

'He was probably looking for a place to cool off as the sun was strong and the temperatures had been very high.'

Monitor lizards are found throughout cities in Thailand, where they live in sewers, canals, ponds and rivers. They often emerge in built-up areas in search of food or water.

In recent years, they appear to have become less intimidated by humans and freely walk among them.

Fortunately, it is rare for the reptiles to attack humans unless it as a last resort in self-defence.

Most famously, a monitor lizard rampaged through a supermarket and climbed across shelves in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand, on April 6, 2021.