This is the extraordinary moment a wild elephant that was searching for food raided a supermarket and became stuck in the aisles.

The hungry beast wandered from its natural stomping ground and barged into the grocery shop in Nakhon Ratchasima, northeast Thailand, on Monday afternoon.

CCTV footage captured him tucking into rice cakes and chicken eggs.

But the jumbo was briefly foiled by its size, with its huge arched back becoming wedged on the low roof.

The hapless elephant began scanning the aisles while pondering how to escape from its self-inflicted predicament.

Fortunately, the shopkeeper Khamploy Gakaew was nearby to usher the 25-year-old bull named Plai Biang Lek back onto the road outside.

The shaken shopkeeper said: 'This was the first time an elephant had visited the store. I hope he doesn't come back. I was worried about the damage he could cause.

'He ate sweet, crispy rice cakes and chicken eggs before walking out. I was surprised to see it eating sweet food, as elephants usually search for something salty.'

The owner said the jumbo spent around 10 minutes searching for food, causing around 1,000 baht (22.70 GBP) in damage to her shelves.

She added: 'We see elephants occasionally, and they will bother street food vendors for food. But this was unusual.'

Wildlife rangers who had been alerted to the issue later arrived and drove the elephant back into the woodland away from danger. They said they were monitoring the area to prevent Plai Biang Lek from returning.

Elephants are known for their voracious appetite. The World Wildlife Federation (WWF) found need to eat up to 150kg of food per day - the equivalent of 375 tins of baked beans

Conservationists in Thailand say that wild elephants - up to 3,500 of them - have even developed a taste for human food and prefer to rummage through homes and vehicles for snacks, instead of the bland leaves they find in the forest.