First it was a dinosaur in spotted in woodland in The Warren in Ashford and now a meerkat has been seen in woods at Pluckley.

But animal lovers shouldn’t get too excited as this meerkat is not exactly full of life.

After reading our previous story about a tree stump that resembled an extinct creature from millions of years ago being seen at The Warren, Cliff Boulton sent us a photo of a piece of wood he believes looks like the small desert mammal.

Mr Boulton, 82, a retired lorry driver of The Street, Pluckley, said: “This meerkat was watching my dog Oz and myself when we were walking in Pluckley woods last summer."

He added: "We walked there again just recently but there was no sign of the meerkat. Maybe a Pluckley ghost caught it!”

He walks up to 1.5 miles a day with five-year-old Oz, who he got from Last Chance Rescue Centre at Edenbridge a year ago.

The “meerkat” was spotted in Dering Woods, also referred to as Screaming Woods due to Pluckley’s reputation as Britain’s most haunted village.

Last week another dog walker, 76-year-old Frank Smith of Grantley Close, Bond Road, Ashford, sent in a photo of a “treestumptaurus” he spotted while out with his German shepherd Brody.