Maids brought cooking oil to rescue a monitor lizard that became stuck under an office building.

Shocked workers noticed the beast's tail sticking out from a narrow gap in the concrete of the tower block in Bangkok, Thailand, this morning.

Firemen arrived but were unable to free the reptile.

So a quick-thinking cleaner found the solution - a one-litre bottle of cooking oil from the grocery shop nextdoor.

Footage shows how she ran to the scene holding the condiment before the emergency crews drizzled it over the creature's scales. Another maid then poured on more oil

The reptile was eventually dragged out following an epic hour-long struggle.

The filmer said: ‘A monitor lizard was stuck in my office tower. It looked like it had tried to crawl through a tiny gap in the concrete and was wedged there.

‘A cleaner spotted it while she was praying at the Buddhist shrine beside the building. Two firemen arrived to help.

'Nothing was moving, so a maid ran to fetch some cooking oil to help. Once applied, it lubricated the beast, and it eventually slipped out.'

The two firemen pinned down the creature and tied up it legs to prevent anyone from being scratched by its sharp claws. They then carried the reptile away on a motorcycle.

Building manager Ning, said the creature is believed to have emerged from a nearby canal.

She added: 'The monitor lizards live in the waterway that runs alongside the office. They are harmless and have never hurt anyone.'

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