Wildlife experts say they have received several reports of “penguins” on the Thanet coast in recent weeks.

But bosses at Bird Wise East Kent say the black and white creatures are in fact guillemots.

Similar sightings have caused a stir in Dover, Folkestone and Ramsgate over the past few years, but as penguins live almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, the reports have quickly been dismissed by experts.

Yet people have been getting their hopes up again, with six reports of the flightless birds over the past month - most of them in Ramsgate.

Bird Wise tweeted: “We have had many reports recently of penguins on the Thanet coast.

“We would like to show our gratitude for these reports. However, we offer our apologies that this is in fact a guillemot.”

The organisation - which is a partnership of local authorities and conservation organisations - explained the close affinity between the birds.

A spokesperson told the Extra: “We’ve had about six people come to us in the few weeks when we’ve been around the coast, particularly Ramsgate, saying they’ve seen a ‘penguin’ when it’s been the guillemot.

“The original name for guillemot was penguin which is a Welsh word meaning white head.

“The name was then given to the penguins we know today before the two groups of species were differentiated in medieval times.”

In January, a video was shared of "a penguin on the promenade" in Dover - which again turned out to be a guillemot.

Passers-by captured it on camera when it belly-flopped to the ground.

The penguin look-a-likes have also been seen before in Folkestone and Ramsgate.

In December last year, a jogger was shocked to see what he thought was a penguin at Ramsgate beach.

In a video of the encounter, he expressed his shock, saying: "I've just done a run around the beach. Honestly, is that a f****** penguin? Looks like a f****** penguin, mate."

Similarly in Folkestone, residents agreed that a similar sighting on the beach in January 2021 was not a penguin but a guillemot.

The RSPB says the guillemot is one of a number of birds which nests in cliffs on the UK coastline.