An 8ft long king cobra was caught after hiding inside the engine of a pickup truck.

The shocked owner was about to drive to work when he saw the snake's tail poking out of the side of his parked vehicle outside his house in Nakhon Ratchasima, northeastern Thailand on September 15.

The deadly reptile was startled upon seeing the man and darted deep inside the engine so he called the animal rescuers for help.

The drive said: "I tried to catch the snake but it was huge and went deep inside my car. I called for help because I was frightened that it would hurt me, it was so big."

Using a flash light, rescuers from the Sawangwitcha Pakchong volunteer team first searched for the snake using a flash light.

The cobra had tucked itself deep into the car's engine so they had to use a rod to pull it out from the gap of the rear wheel.

The serpent was finally caught after almost an hour of searching before it was placed inside a sack.

Rescuers brought the snake with them to be released later into the wild.