A group of tourists who took a taxi in the hope of spotting an elephant fled for their lives when one appeared on the road and then came charging towards them.

The footage shows the huge elephant, which is much taller than the tiny white Hyundai car, tossing the vehicle around as if it was made of paper in the incident that took place recently on the Nilgiris Highway in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

The video, apparently filmed by another motorist, shows the elephant nudging the car before walking around it.

It had apparently already partially destroyed a door that was left open by one of the fleeing occupants and poked its trunk inside in order to take out items and fling them onto the road.

Motorists can be heard honking their horns in a bid to make the elephant flee but this has little effect on the huge mammal.

It can then be seen lowering its tusks and easily pushing the car down the road before the footage ends.

It is currently unclear what happened after the clip and if the vehicle was still roadworthy after the elephant was done with it.

Local media reported that these incidents are becoming more frequent in India as human activity increasingly encroaches on the natural habitats of the country’s wildlife.