A farmer had the shock of his life when he went to check on his newborn lambs and found one with what he said was a human-like face.

Blasius Lavrentiev, from the village of Chirka in south-western Russia, had been waiting all week for his prized ewe to give birth.

The 45-year-old said: “We had quite a tough winter and when I noticed she was pregnant I was delighted as it meant I would be able to sell the lambs and start making some money again.

“But when I went down to see how it was going I nearly died from shock when I saw what looked like the hairy face of an old man staring up at me.

“Her parents are both normal looking sheep so I have no idea how she ended up looking like this.”

Now the human-faced lamb has become the talk of the village.

Neighbour Dementi Galkin said: “I’ve seen some weird stuff in my time, but nothing like this.

“She looks like an angry old man with a big nose.”

Villager Dana Mishina aid: “She is both freaky and sweet.

“I don’t know what to make of it really, But she terrifies my grandchildren.”

“It will be interesting to see what she looks like when she gets older.”

Local vet Dorofei Gavrilov said: “From what we can make out the anomaly is the result of the farmer giving the lamb’s mother too much vitamin A.

Proud owner Lavrentiev however has found his shock turn to delight after he was already offered 10 times the normal price, from a local circus, and several other inquiries have also come in since then.

“Whatever has caused it she’s a little beauty and I definitely won’t be selling her for anyone’s dinner table either as the buyers want her on display, Lavrentiev said.

“She’ll be staying with us until then.”