This is the nail-biting moment a huge python was found hiding among gas cylinders in a shop.

Shop workers spotted the 16 ft (5m) reticulated python hiding in a pile of LPG metal canisters at Mitna Gas Shop in West Sulawesi, Indonesia, on January 13.

Worried employees contacted the Mamuju Fire Department to retrieve the snake. Officials dispatched seven fire brigade personnel equipped with three snake-catching sticks.

Footage shows the rescuers removing the stacks of cylinders from the pile as they search for the animal.

Moments later, upon spotting it inside, they quickly grabbed it with the pole catcher as it attempted to break free.

One of the rescuers even fell to the ground, causing gas cylinders to topple over. He then dragged the snake out of the building, with the rest of the team restraining it as it coiled around the pole.

After the dramatic and laborious effort, they eventually managed to capture the reptile, which was sheltered in a quarantine cage temporarily before being sent back to the wild.

Mo Randy, head of the Mamuju district fire department, said: 'The snake entered the Mitna Gas Shop in Karema Village, the python entered a pile of gas cylinders.

'The snake was found in a pile of tubes, rescue members immediately evacuated it for approximately 30 minutes. It was five metres long. '

Pythons are nonvenomous constrictors that prey on rodents, birds, lizards, and mammals. They lack venomous fangs and consume their prey whole by swallowing it.