This is the moment a leech was removed from a boy's nose where it had been sucking his blood all night.

The seven-year-old lad had been swimming with his friends in a canal in Xaignabouli, northwestern Laos, when he felt something stuck inside his nostril.

He went home and complained about the pain to his mother, who has not been named, but then went to bed to see if it would be better the next day.

With the boy still in pain, his mother took him to the local hospital on February 27 where she told medics her son had breathing difficulties throughout the night.

The doctor looked inside his nose during an examination and found the mysterious wormlike creature hiding in his left nostril.

The young patient sat calmly while the nurse used long metal tweezers to pull the creature from his nose.

The leech, which measured four centimetres long, was believed to be smaller when it entered his nostril while he was playing in the dirty water - but swelled after sucking his blood.

The mother said: ''I remembered that the canal was brownish because of the mud. From now on, I will tell my boy and every kid around there not to play in the water.''

Nurse Laya Keomany said: ''When we shone a torch in the nostril it was clear something was blocking the airway. It was easy to remove and the boy had not suffered a serious injury.''