Paramedics battled to catch an agile snake that was holding up traffic on a road in Thailand.

The volunteers were called by drivers and found the 6ft (2m) python slithering on the side of one lane in Buriram province on February 4.

Footage shows a rescue worker scrambling on his knees and hands to grab the serpent by its tail before it could escape into the pavement.

His colleague helped him drag it to the middle, where it was secured using a catching pole and then carried it to the back of their truck.

The paramedic said: 'We had to temporarily block traffic to catch the snake safely.'

The python was taken back to the forest and then released unharmed.

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