A ferris wheel at a newly opened dinosaur theme park in Bangkok burst into flames following an afternoon thunderstorm.

Shocking images posted on social media show one of the capsules engulfed by the blaze as clouds of black smoke billow over the five-storey high fairground ride in the Thai capital.

The park Dinosaur Planet said no one was on the ride, called the Dino Eye, at the time and no injuries were reported.

Blaze: The fire broke out on the five-storey high ferris wheel at the Dinosaur Planet theme park in the Thai capital, just a month after it opened

'At the time of the incident, no one was on the ferris wheel,' said the park in a statement on its Facebook page.

'As standard protocol, we stopped all operations of the Dino Eye before the rain, which is one of our safety measures for Dinosaur Planet.'

The fire began at around 2.30pm, according to the fire and rescue department of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.

Firefighters were able to bring the blaze under control in 20 minutes, after the fire broke out following an afternoon thunderstorm in Bangkok

The £9.8million Dinosaur Planet has been a popular attraction since it opened on March 25 in central Bangkok

Firefighters were able to bring the blaze under control within 20 minutes, according to the department’s Twitter page.

The park is investigating the cause of the blaze, although an electrical short-circuit is currently suspected.