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Thousands of crocodiles are on the loose after escaping from a farm hit by flooding.

Residents have been warned to stay indoors as wildlife experts try to capture the man-eating beasts.

One was spotted on a school rugby pitch and others have been found trapped in branches of trees after the flood waters fell.

The alarm was raised when all 15,000 Nile crocs at the Rakwena farm in South Africa’s Limpopo province fled their pens which had been opened on Sunday to stop flood water crushing them.

They have since been spotted all over.

Farm boss Zane Langman said he has recaptured “a few thousand” of the reptiles in the dense bush around the property.

But he added: “More than half are still missing.”

Nile crocs can grow up to 16ft and reach speeds of 8mph when running and 22mph swimming.

Commercial crocodile farms breed the animals for their skin, which is used to make belts, shoes and bags.

There is also a small market for the meat but most often it is fed to other crocs, as they are cannibalistic.

Langman, who said it is easier to recapture the beasts at night as their eyes shine red in the dark, also told how he went to rescue friends in a flood-hit house.

“You wonder the whole time if you’ll make it there. When we reached the people, the crocodiles were swimming around them. Praise the Lord, the family was all alive.”