This is the moment an escaped emu holds up motorists as it runs down the middle of a Chilean motorway.

The bizarre footage was filmed by a driver on a stretch of the Ruta 5 Sur highway in the commune of San Carlos in central Chile on Tuesday morning, 11th January.

The footage, in which the big bird was mistakenly identified as an ostrich at first, was posted online, and it swiftly went viral, racking up 6,300 views to date.

However, the company Survias, which operates the stretch of motorway, took to Twitter to inform the public that the lane hogger was, in fact, an emu.

Survias also warned drivers that the big bird was heading northwards along the road.

The emu caused a traffic jam on the motorway, as can be seen in the footage. However, Survias reported the congestion had alleviated around 45 minutes later.

It is not currently known where the emu escaped from and how it ended up running along the multilane highway.

It is also not known how the bird was removed from the road and what eventually became of it.

The emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the second-tallest living bird by height after the ostrich.

It is endemic to Australia, and its range covers most of the Australian mainland.

It can sprint at speeds of up to 50 kph (31 mph), which is well under the speed limit on Chilean highways.

It is a flightless bird that is classified as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, although some local populations are listed as endangered.