A huge wild monitor lizard was caught after it wandered into a family's kitchen.

The 7ft (2m) reptile crawled through the backdoor and hid under the counter cabinet of a home in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, on February 5.

It was discovered when the daughter of the house owner, Wiroj Setaphayak, 79, tried to open the gas tank to cook breakfast.

Footage shows the lizard trying to escape as the reptile handlers were waiting by the cabinet doors to snare the beast.

It squeezed into the space beside the tank before its neck was caught in a rescuer's noose and dragged to the front of the house.

Wirot said: 'My daughter was about to cook and saw the monitor lizard hiding near the gas tank. She first thought it was a crocodile because it was so big.'

The elderly resident said the monitor lizard had entered their home before.

He added: 'It likes to hide. Before this, we found it hiding in a drain. It has become larger now. It might be looking for food in our house. We live beside a body of water.'

The rescuers took the monitor lizard with them and transported it back to its habitat on a truck.

Asian water monitor lizards normally live in canals, swamps, sewers and ponds in cities in Thailand. They feed on fish, snakes, frogs and scraps of food left by humans.

The reptiles are aggressive when threatened and have a mildly venomous bite, sometimes carrying harmful bacteria. The Godzilla-like reptiles are also a protected species in the country so their population thrives.