A family of tourists were terrified after renting a car then finding a baby python hiding inside the seat.

The Chinese holidaymakers hired the red Nissan Almera in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and the wife was driving yesterday (September 4) morning.

But she panicked after noticing the baby snake on the windscreen.

The family pulled over and abandoned the vehicle before flagging down nearby traffic police.

By the time the rescuer volunteer who was contacted by the police arrived the serpent slithered through the car's engine. They then found it curled up inside the seat.

Footage taken on Wednesday afternoon shows the rescuer volunteer struggling to pull the little serpent from its hiding place.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Suppachai Chantra said that the snake must have first been in the engine compartment before slithering out to escape the heat when it began moving.

He said: "When the engine is running the temperature increases, so the python must have come out and slithered up to the windscreen.

''We were able to catch the snake and let it go into the bushes at the side of the road.''