This is the astonishing moment an elephant raided a grocery store for food.

The ravenous tusker wandered from a nearby wildlife sanctuary and stormed the roadside shop in Nakhon Ratchasima, northeast Thailand, on Thursday evening.

CCTV footage shows the jumbo forcing open a roller door before helping himself to the snacks on the shelves.

He also devoured fresh produce in baskets and tried to reach for a chest freezer before park rangers arrived and drove him away.

The shopkeeper said the 34-year-old animal named Plai Biang Lek caused 30,000 baht (684 GBP) of damage to his shop.

He said: 'The elephant damaged the shutter door and the grocery items were destroyed and can no longer be sold. I don't know what to do. I just hope the relevant agencies would come and help me so I can have the door repaired.

'I'm not angry. The elephant was only looking for food. I just have to be careful next time. But when there is damage, I want the relevant agencies to provide aid. That's all.'

Plai Biang Lek is notorious for barging into properties in search of food.

On June 2, he wandered into a different shop, where he was caught eating rice cakes and chicken eggs while wedged on the low roof.

The shopkeeper Khamploy Gakaew managed to guide him back onto the road while wildlife officers drove him back into the woodland away from danger.

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.