Seal on the banks of the Medway. Picture: Angela Jarrett

by Dan Bloom

If this seal wanted to go clubbing, it didn't quite make it.

The creature, pictured above, drew animal lovers to the River Medway after it turned up outside the new Passion nightclub in Strood.

It has been seen several times this week soaking up the rays on mud flats 14 miles upstream at the Medway Valley Leisure Park.

Staff said it was not in any apparent danger and one McDonald's employee added: "I've been trying to look at it every morning.

"It's really fat - it sits there until the tide comes out then it swims away."

Amateur photographer Angela Jarrett, from Gravesend, captured the seal on camera.

She said: "I first saw it last Wednesday. Since then there have been a lot of people getting their phones out and taking pictures.

"I often come here because it's a lovely view. It's nice to see something a little bit different."

Seal expert Brett Lewis said Kent had about 1,000 seals and they were common in the River Medway.

Mr Lewis, from Canterbury, added: "There's a good population there, as there are a lot of tributaries for them to swim up.

"It's more often in places like the Riverside Country Park in Gillingham."