A huge wild cobra hiding in a driver's car engine was caught in Thailand.

The 4ft snake was discovered by Toyota pickup truck owner Wallee Khongkaew, 47, when he went out to check strange sounds from his garage in Songkhla, Thailand, on October 16.

Footage shows the reptile's head poking between the gears when volunteers opened the bonnet.

They flashed it with a torch during the night rescue, but the deadly serpent would try to escape, slithering deeper into the engine.

It was eventually caught when one of the volunteers grabbed its head and dragged it out of the vehicle.

Wallee said: 'I first thought there was a cat stuck inside, but it turned out to be a snake.'

Rescuer Taweesak from the Asorapit Wittaya Serpentology team helped with the operation. They placed the animal in a sack and released it back into its habitat without injuries.

The monocled cobra is a venomous species of cobra that is widespread across South and Southeast Asia. It is listed on CITES Appendix II as protected species and has been assessed as 'Least Concern' on the IUCN Red List.

They typically reach lengths of 4.4 ft (1.35 metres) to 4.9 ft (1.5 metres), although they can grow up to a maximum length of 7.5 ft (2.3 metres).

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.