This is the moment a group of diners enjoying a relaxing evening meal fled in terror when a large snake entered the restaurant where they are sitting.

The footage was captured in Yunnan, which is an inland province in south-western China, on June 8.

The silver-coloured snake was difficult to see on the grey-coloured floor, despite wriggling a lot, and people only ran away when one of the men screamed as it glided over his foot.

One member of the family group that quickly fled said: 'At first, my cousin felt something cold on his feet, then he looked down and jumped up in fright.

'To be fair, the snake was probably also frightened, so it ran to the pickle jar nearby, and finally, it was caught and put into a sack and sent to a distant mountain to be released.

'We were all absolutely terrified.'