A hungry monitor lizard in Thailand was found wandering around with its snout stuck in an empty food tin.

The reptile had been rummaging through piles of garbage in Ang Thong, central Thailand, when it tried to eat from inside the metal can.

Motorist Sawitree Sauysom, 49, noticed hapless reptile stumbling along the road while she was driving home on Saturday (September 7) afternoon.

The kindhearted driver rushed out of the vehicle to have a closer look and found the lizard's eyesight was blocked by the tin.

Footage shows how the frightened resident was attempting to remove the small can with a long stick.

She is also in the video getting increasingly worried because the reptile kept dashing away from her.

The monitor lizard refused to be rescued and eventually ran into wasteland on the roadside. Sawitree drove home and called the local animal rescue group.

Speaking on Monday, Sawitree said: ''I wanted to help but I was also afraid of being bitten, so I grabbed the longest stick I could find to remove the tin.

''I spent a while trying to remove the can but it was too tight and the lizard kept running away. I had no choice but to give up when it ran away into the wasteland and disappeared.''

Rescue volunteers spent two days monitoring the injured lizard. Happily, it was finally caught and had the can removed before being returned to the wild on Monday afternoon.

Sawitree added: ''There are some monitor lizards living in the area because it's quiet and near a canal. Some careless people think that the place is abandoned so they like to throw away rubbish, which is very harmful to those animals.

''That lizard could have died if the rescuers didn't find it. I hope people will be more responsible and stop littering. This will help animals and also keep the city clean.''