Otter mayhem after 'challenging beast' sneaks into garden centre

Vets had to be called out to help capture an otter after it staged a daring daylight "break-in" at a garden centre in the south of Scotland.

CCTV footage shows the moment the animal sneaked unnoticed into the premises at Matt Williamson and Son in Closeburn, north of Dumfries, on Monday lunchtime.

It then hid under a shelf and got locked in overnight before helping itself to some dog food and bird seed for breakfast and knocking stock around the store.

It was only discovered when staff opened the shop at 09:00 on Tuesday - and then it had to be caught with a fishing net before it could be returned to a nearby burn.

Craig Williamson, from the garden centre, told BBC Scotland News that CCTV showed the otter coming in at about 12:30 on Monday, and having a "sniff and a wander".

It then headed to the top corner of the premises - probably to sleep - concealed under a shelf until the following day.

"It then reappeared at six in the morning to have a wander and its breakfast with a munch on some dog food and bird seed," he said.

"It was discovered when the shop was opened at nine o'clock."

He said they did not initially realise what had caused the disarray in the premises.

"Firstly we thought one of the village's cats had been locked in as there was stock lying on the floor," he explained.

"When the stock was being placed back on the shelves its head popped out.

"By this time we had customers coming in and had to explain they couldn't come in as there was an otter in the shop."

At that point they called out Nithsdale Vets who sent out three members of their team to assist with returning the animal to the wild.

"It was a challenging beast to contain as it outsmarted us when trying to contain it into a smaller space to capture it," said Craig.

"After a good 20 minutes it was caught by a fishing net.

"The vets then took him away to be released at a burn not too far away."

Nithsdale Vets posted on Facebook about the unusual capture operation saying it proved that no two days were the same in veterinary practice.

Scotland is home to a high proportion of the UK's otter population.

They can be found across the country but are most common along the western coast and on islands.

Otters are a protected species and it is an offence to deliberately or recklessly harass, capture, injure or kill them.

It is also an offence to disturb, damage or destroy a breeding site or resting place of an otter or obstruct their access, whether or not an otter is present.