A High Harrington man got the shock of his life when a camera attached to his washing line captured an unexpected thief in his back garden.

Alan Barlow, 74, of Ruskin Close, had ten of his fish mysteriously disappear and put in the camera as he tried to protect his remaining fish.

He initially had 11 fish and was left with just one and he put three more tiddlers into the pond.

Alan became aware of the otter after plugging his camera into his television.

He said: "I put 11 fish into the pond and then I noticed some splashing going on.

"It came during the night and it must have gone in and eaten 10 of the fish.

"I was shocked to see an otter around here and I've got a pretty good fence going all the way around.

"I've seen rabbits and things, but I knew there was something going on.

"Even the four fish are frightened. As soon as they see a shadow they shoot off down the pond and they're away."

Alan has not reported the otter to a wildlife group, but posted about his experience on social networking site Facebook.

He has since added six more fish to the pond and has put nets over the top of the pond to protect his fish.

Alan added: "It's not been back since. The size of it was unbelievable.

"Imagine if you'd walked into it.

"The nets make the pond look ugly, but what else can I do?

"We don't know where the otter came from."