Python sparks panic after appearing at toll road checkpoint

This is the bizarre moment a python sparked panic after it appeared at a toll road checkpoint.

CCTV footage captured the moment a red Mercedes arrived at the booth on the road in Chonburi, Thailand, on January 8.

But when the vehicle pulled away, there was a 15ft long python curled up in the middle of the road.

The beast then slithered away up a curb and into the gap next to one of the officers. It disappeared before the emergency services could arrive to catch.

Staff at the toll booth are now baffled as to where the snake came from. Some suggested that it had been curled up in the underbelly of the car, then dropped out when it stopped. Others believe that the driver released it onto the ground as a strange prank or after getting bored of it as a pet.

Motorway worker Singthong Nammala said: ''The snake wasn't there before the car arrived. Then when the car left, the snake was on the ground.

''We're sure the python was dropped from the vehicle. But we don't know why. Snakes often climb inside car engines so it might have done that and fallen out when it stopped.''