A woman was shocked after being woken up by a 20ft long python outside her house.

Anucha Rattanasurang went to bed last night but was disturbed just before midnight by dogs' barking at the killer reptile.

She noticed the giant reptile on the patio outside her back door in Sukhothai, central Thailand on Thursday (November 7) night.

Anucha contacted the rescue team who sent two volunteers. However, they needed reinforcements, with eight more volunteers arriving because the python was so big.

The python slithered away and hid in the dense grass. They spent an hour trying to catch the python, which made several attempts at biting them.

Snake catcher Pongthep Sakhon said it was difficult to trap the python because of its size and ferocity.

He said: "The snake was hiding silently in the dense grass and when we found it, we were attacked instantly."

"Fortunately, no one of our team was hurt by the snake and we could catch it eventually."

The huge python was stretched out and estimated to be 20ft long. It was then put in a bucket and covered before being released back to the wild.