A monitor lizard with its neck tangled in a net outside a house standing in a canal was rescued by a resident.

The reptile tried to climb up the property from the water by crawling through the net but it was stuck instead in Bangkok, Thailand on July 4.

A woman found it dangling on the protective mesh, struggling to free itself, so she went to the balcony with a friend to help release it.

Footage shows the good Samaritans freeing the animal by unravelling the net before it jumped into the water and swam away. The monitor lizard was not injured.

Resident Gusima said: 'The monitor lizard left after that. He wasn't harmed.'

Asian water monitor lizards normally live in canals, swamps, sewers and ponds in cities in Thailand. They feed on fish, snakes, frogs and scraps of food left by humans.

The reptiles are aggressive when threatened and have a mildly venomous bite, sometimes carrying harmful bacteria. The Godzilla-like reptiles are also a protected species in the country so their population thrives.