A dead otter was found yesterday by a man and his daughters.

Photographer, Peter Nix, who lives in Dover, was returning to his car from a boot fair at 2.30pm yesterday (Sunday) when he saw the animal.

The otter was laying on the verge by the River Dour.

It was only when one of his daughters spotted the creature that they asked what it was.

Scarlett, aged seven and Isobel, aged five were sad to see the lifeless otter on the bank.

At first glimpse, Mr Nix thought the otter was a rat.

He said: “I initially thought it was an extremely large rat, but then noticed it was not.

“It looked like an otter so I posted the picture on Dover for Dovorians site and it was later confirmed it was a female otter.”

The otter has been removed and is being collected by the Kent Mammal Group later today.

Mr Nix added: “It was sad that my daughters were upset when they saw it was dead.

"Its a shame the otter was dead, I was amazed to see we had them here."

The photographer uploaded a picture to Facebook where others commented on how sad a finding it was.

But on a positive note, he added: “Its good to know that the right people are aware and that there maybe more.”

For the full story, see this week's Mercury.