Hundreds of rampaging monkeys escaped from their enclosure and wreaked havoc on a police station in central Thailand.

Some 200 ravenous macaques had been caged for terrorising the hapless locals but they clawed their way through the metal at the Pho Kao Ton Monkey Nursery in Lopburi on November 16.

Under the cover of night, the shrieking primates spilled out onto the streets and quickly overran the town. Terrified families locked themselves indoors before the macaques, notorious for attacking residents for food, could descend on their homes.

Dozens of the escaped animals also besieged the Tha Hin Police Station next to the nursery, where embattled policemen fearing the monkeys' wrath barricaded themselves inside the building.

Desperate traffic police and officers outside tried to lure the troupe away using food. Footage shows some of the primates perched menacingly on the station rooftop, looking down on the deserted street below.

Police Captain Somchai Seedee said: ‘We've had to make sure doors and windows are closed to prevent them from entering the building for food.' He added the simian thugs could also destroy important police property, including documents.

Authorities said on Sunday, November 17, that the damaged enclosure had been repaired. More than 100 macaques voluntarily returned to the nursery, where a local Buddhist temple usually holds food offering ceremonies for them.

The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said personnel were rounding up the rogue macaques still on the loose. They expect to catch the rest of the fugitive monkeys in three days.

Lopburi has been overrun with monkeys, partly due to their religious significance in Thai culture, and because of unregulated tourist feeding practices that have allowed them to thrive.

Though the wild monkeys have become a tourist attraction, their soaring numbers have also created an unsafe environment for the locals, who complain about the increasing conflict as more macaques encroach into human settlements.

Lopburi authorities have teamed up with the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation to address the issue through sterilisation and relocation.