A 13ft-long cobra was pulled from the engine of a resident's car in Thailand.

The owner discovered the venomous serpent as she was checking her Toyota before setting off on a journey in Chiang Mai on May 23.

Footage shows the reptile coiled in the corner inside the compartment as the volunteers were working on removing it from the machinery.

The cobra evaded the snake handlers and slithered deeper inside the car until it was successfully removed three hours later.

The car owner said: :It was really scary. I had to ask for help because it was so big.'

The serpent was put in a sack and returned to the rescue team's facility to be released later into the wild.

Researchers found that 7,000 people are treated for snake bites each year in Thailand. Suchai Suteparuk from the Division of Toxicology at Chulalongkorn University reported that 30 of those die, with cobras being the biggest killer.