This is the moment an oil drum takes off like a rocket after a man tried to cut it with an angle grinder.

The incident took place in the city of Yiyang, which is located in south-eastern China’s Hunan.

The footage shows the man, named only as Mr Zhou in local reports, cutting into the disused oil barrel with an angle grinder when all of a sudden there is a flash and a puff of smoke and the oil drum takes off into the air.

A few seconds later it lands with a bang in the middle of the road.

Local media reported that Mr Zhou said that local villagers had asked them to cut the oil barrel into so that they could fry bacon and fish on its cut open halves.

It is believed that the oil drum still contained a flammable chemical residue, which has not currently been identified, causing the barrel to ignite on the inside, with flames gushing out of the bottom of it, causing it to shoot up like a rocket.

Mr Zhou reportedly only suffered some light scratches in the explosion.

It is currently unclear if the authorities are investigating the incident.