Startled customers in a New York bar shrieked in horror as a giant rat hopped onto the bar and ran the full length oblivious to the commotion around it.

Video shows the huge rodent running along the whole length of the bar as customers watched on with their drinks.

Staff at the Judge Roy Bean Public House in Manhattan, New York City, were eventually seen trying to trap the rat after it had walked over napkins and utensils.

Jeremy Gurvits, 30, was out celebrating a premiere with colleagues when he captured the moment on his phone.

Post-production assistant Jeremy described the moment as "extreme New York-ness".

Jeremy, from Brooklyn, said: "Everyone had their phones out realising in unison the extreme New Yorkness of the moment.

"Pretty sure at least one person thought it was cute.

"The rest of us not so much. Before I knew what was happening, I had the misfortune of leaning against the bar.

"Despite my colleagues' cries to warn me to get out of there. There's unfortunate photographic evidence of the rat getting uncomfortably close to my sleeve.

"I will struggle to wear that shirt again."

Jeremy said that the bar staff were trying to catch the rodent for around five minutes, but he and his colleagues didn't stay long.

He said: "It was certainly trapped, but we took its arrival as our cue to leave before discovering the true aftermath."

The video was filmed on June 13.