Otter breaks into garden and eats all of Balderton man's fish from pond

A greedy otter took the opportunity to dine out after breaking into a garden and eating all of a man's prized fish from his pond.

The fish were owned by Brian Tompkins, who lives just off London Road, Balderton.

Brian said: "We were away when it happened and had an email off our neighbour who was watching the house for us to say that the pond was empty.

"When we returned it appeared that an otter had managed to get into the garden and eaten all of the fish, including a large koi carp which it left on the path with a chunk of flesh bitten out of the throat.

"There were probably between 20 and 24 goldfish in the pond and two Koi fish. They were there when we moved in but we bought one of the Kois.

"Balderton Lake is just down the road and I'd seen an RSPCA guy who is regularly down there picking up litter and he confirmed that there were otters in the area.

"We have a 6ft fence and didn't think that anything could get into the garden, but it looks like it broke in by pushing the fence from behind.

"We had been having trouble with herons so we installed a net, but when we came back from holiday it had been moved so it had to be something else."

Brian is looking at replacing the fish in the future but intends to reinforce the fence to prevent future break-ins and place more protection around the pond.

Laughing about it, he said: "They're like burglars, if they want to get into your house, they will."