Wallaby spotted hopping through town centre

A wallaby has been spotted hopping through a town centre in Cornwall.

A pastry shop owner told BBC Cornwall he was driving to work at about 05:30 BST on Monday when he noticed the mammal jumping through the streets of Liskeard.

Devon and Cornwall Police said officers were called to reports of a wallaby seen on Dean Street but, after a search of the area, they could not find it.

The RSPCA said it urged anyone who spotted a wallaby in the wild to "watch from afar, enjoy the unusual sight and don't try to approach them".

A spokesperson for the charity said: "Most people may be unaware that wallabies are considered established in the wild in Britain, as a result of escaping from captivity, although they are not a native species to the UK.

"Some people also keep them in private collections, so it's possible this wallaby is lost or has escaped from a private property."

The RSPCA said if anyone found an injured wallaby in need of help asked them to "monitor the animal from a distance" and to call its emergency line on 0300 1234 999.

Scot Weller, owner of Original Cornish Pasties, said he initially thought the animal was a dog - but soon realised it was jumping along in the dark.

He said: "I originally thought it was like a German shepherd, because of the dark colours and the big ears - and I was thinking: 'Hang on. No, it's not. It's hopping.'

"Then it's going past the Spar shop and I thought I'm going to follow that because I'll have to tell the RSPCA or the police that there's a wallaby around."

Weller said he drove slowly behind the animal, causing traffic to build behind him, turning on his hazard lights to monitor where the animal was travelling.

"It hopped along the road a little bit and stopped, had a little look around and, as a car overtook me, it hopped across the road and went down the lane towards the Co-op."

Weller noted the animal "seemed fine" but he called 101 to report the matter.

He also told the BBC no cameras were operated illegally while he was driving.

The government's website people needed to apply for a licence from their local council to keep a wild animal "considered to be wild, dangerous or exotic".

Such animals included marsupials, it said.

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