A nervous monitor lizard was caught after running away from people and hiding in a car engine.

The 6ft long reptile was first spotted by workers at a local government office in Prachinburi, eastern Thailand. But the lizard was startled and it darted under a red pickup truck to hide.

Footage from Wednesday afternoon (June 24) shows the animal handlers squatting down to find the reptile after the truck owner contacted them for help.

They spent more than an hour to remove the reptile because it was stuck in the engine, resisting being caught.

The car owner Nam-oi Seedam said: "I saw it on the road and I think it was threatened when people stared at it then I saw it run under my car to hide.

"I asked the officers there to help chase it away but we found that it was stuck in the engine.''

The commotion attracted onlookers because they wanted to get the car license plate for their lottery numbers. Local superstition has it that wild animal encounters are lucky.

The animal catchers released the monitor lizard back into the wild away from busy roads with people.