Two elephants that raided a field of crops caused chaos as they chased motorists before being forced back into the jungle in India.

Reports said the pair, aged 20 to 25, wandered into the reserve forest near Viraliyur village in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu on Sunday, January 26, around 11 pm, searching for food to plunder.

By midnight on Monday, two frontline teams monitored the elephants' movements as they entered a maize field.

However, the frontline personnel lost sight of the elephants shortly after.

The bulls were then spotted leaving the agricultural areas for Vettaikaran Kovil around 6 am.

Locals attempted to scare the jumbos away but Forest Range Officer Suseendranath and his team advised the public not to disturb the wild elephants.

Around 8am, the frontline personnel safely guided the pair back into the reserve forest.

Footage shows residents shouting, seemingly scaring the jumbos away.

Suseendranath assured the public that two frontline squads would be stationed in Viraliyur village in case the animals returned to prevent potential conflicts between humans and animals.

The officer said: 'We have also requested the cooperation of locals in not disturbing the elephants.'

The sub-continent has at least 30,000 wild elephants - more than any other country and approximately 60 per cent of the world's entire Asian elephant population.

Many more elephants are held in captivity in India. They are used for religious events and weddings.