Tourists fled in panic when a huge python appeared on a Thai beach.

Footage shows dozens of holidaymakers standing nervously on the shore watching lifeguards catch the 10ft snake in the water in Phuket, Thailand, on November 4.

The rescue team commandeered jet skis that were previously used by beachgoers and rode out to the reptile.

They circled around the spot where the animal was swimming until it poked its head out and was dragged into the shore by one of the men, holding it by the tail.

Police Colonel Somsak Thongkliang of Kamala Police Station said: 'We received a report about the snake. We believe it entered the canal next to the beach and then moved into the sea.

'Tourists who were swimming in the sea saw the snake and screamed. They quickly left the water.'

The tourists, many of them from Russia, the UK and Australia, cheered when the rescuers finally secured the 15.7st (100kg) animal and taken to shore.

The reticulated python is found throughout Southeast Asia, where they live in forests, swamps, canals and even in cities, causing them to come into conflict with humans. Occasionally they emerge on beaches.

The species is one of the world's largest snakes and can eat humans, cats, dogs, birds, rats and other snakes.