Pictures have shown the incredible moment a critically endangered turtle was rescued after getting stuck in a rubbish trap.

The lone hawksbill turtle was spotted desperately trying to free itself from the rusty metal grate in Port Dickson, Malaysia, on Tuesday morning.

A local worker checking the area was heartbroken to find the struggling turtle and immediately called the emergency services.

Several firemen arrived at the Tuanku Ja’afar Power Station just after 11.45am local time and quickly began the rescue mission.

The turtle was tightly wedged between the bars of the metal grate – which is designed to catch rubbish – and required the firemen to be lowered into the drainage channel using ropes.

Ahmad Mukhlis Mokhtar of the State Fire and Rescue Department said: ‘The team arrived a few minutes later after receiving the emergency call and immediately began the operation to save the turtle.

‘They found the turtle unable to move as it was trapped between two of the bars in the rubbish trap.’

The turtle, which weighed 100kg, was miraculously released unharmed in about 30 minutes by the workers.

They then cradled it in their arms while being hauled back to the walkway above the trap, before releasing it back into the sea from a nearby beach so she could be with her family.

Ahmad added: ‘The turtle was released 200 metres away from the scene so she would not swim back to the same area.’

The hawksbill turtle is classed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of global species as Critically Endangered – just two levels from being extinct.

They can grow up to a metre long and weigh on average around 80kg.