A driver was shocked after starting up his car and finding a monitor lizard in the engine

Kittipong Vechekit, 50, went out to his Isuzu MU-X on Saturday (July 6) in Samut Songkhram, central Thailand.

When the homeowner started up the car he heard an unusual rattling sound and immediately turned off the ignition.

Kittipong checked under the bonnet and was startled when the three-metre-long water monitor lizard appeared from the engine.

He said: ''I knew I had to be careful because it had sharp teeth. And they can be aggressive and attack with their claws.''

Kittipong called the emergency services who chased the reptile out of the engine and pounced on it when it tried to escape through a drain in the front yard.

The lizard was later released back into the wild unharmed.