A massive python terrified students and teachers when it was seen dangling next to a classroom window in Thailand.

Footage shows the serpent hanging from the roof, sparking panic among the youngsters at the Nong Chae Waen School in Chonburi on August 21.

Teachers evacuated the room and called an animal rescue team for help.

Snake catchers later arrived with a cherry picker to reach the python, which was hiding under a ceiling board 33ft above the ground.

Schoolchildren cheered as the specialists removed the 12ft beast, which weighed 15kg (33lbs).

Animal rescue worker Panawal Rueanrom said: 'We were called after a teacher spotted a snake under the school's roof. It was nearly 10 metres high, so we had to request a crane to reach it.

'The capture was difficult because it was hiding beneath the ceiling, but we managed to bring it down. We found it had been living there and eating pigeons, and it will now be released safely back into the wild, far from homes.'

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.