A bungling thief who fell into a narrow building gap while running from cops ended up pleading with them to rescue him,

The suspect, believed to be in his 40s, had reportedly broken into the former Krungthai Bank in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, on August 19 morning.

Officers received a report from concerned locals, and converged on the locked building to investigate. Inside, they found the shirtless local surrounded by drug paraphernalia after apparently ransacking the place.

The man reportedly panicked upon seeing law enforcement, and fled to the top of the building, sprinting some 330ft across rooftops before slipping into a narrow 20-inch gap.

Footage shows the injured suspect wedged between concrete walls and unable to move.

A team of volunteers later arrived to winch the man from the gap, though they had difficulties because of the cramped space.

The alleged burglar was trapped for more than an hour before he was finally rescued. He was carried on a stretcher and taken to a hospital for abrasions, an ankle injury, and exhaustion.

A Kanchanaburi Police Station spokesman said: 'Police took the suspect to the hospital for treatment before arresting him charging him with theft.'