Young grey seal rescued more than four hours after being found in field in Newton-le-Willows near St Helens

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Bemused residents in rural Merseyside, in north-west England, faced a conundrum when they woke up to the sight of a seal stranded in a field miles away from the coast.

The young male grey seal was discovered on Monday by a dog walker. It was flapping against a fence post by Newton brook in Newton-le-Willows, near St Helens, which is 20 miles inland.

Police, animal rescue officers and a farmer used brooms and metal fences to try to herd the distressed animal into a trailer. Eventually a piece of mackerel did the trick, and the disorientated outsider was captured and transferred to a wildlife centre in Nantwich, Cheshire.

Curious onlookers, who were warned not to get too close to the seal because of the aggressive nature of the animals, concluded the most likely explanation was it had travelled up the river Mersey before getting lost in the brook. There is a grey seal colony near Hilbre Island in the Dee estuary, which is 50 miles away.

The unusual scene drew a lot of local interest as police called for help from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue Service (BDMLR), the animal welfare charity RSPCA and the Merseyside fire service.

Rachael Fraser, from BDMLR, said: “We think he’s come from the Mersey area, which is tidal, and he’s come up the bank here and he’s got lost. It’s very unusual.”

Steve Marsh, also from BDMLR, said the rescue was a challenge: “It’s not an easy job certainly because they are large animals.”

Nicola Watkinson, who works at the Red Bank farm shop, told the Liverpool Echo: “Someone rang up this morning and said there’s a great big sea lion outside our shop. The only thing they can think of is that there’s a little brook nearby, so maybe it has come from there. We’ve got traffic piled up with people looking at it, and there’s lots of police here.”



She added that people tried to get near the seal “but it’s not very friendly”.

Gary Watkinson, a farmer, said: “We just saw it lying there this morning. It’s definitely come up from the brook near here. I tracked its movements and you can see the marks in the soil.”

Merseyside police said: “Police and fire officers, with the help of a local farmer, have herded the seal on to an RSPCA trailer.

“Its condition is described as being exhausted and has now been taken to the RSPCA’s wildlife hospital in Stapeley Grange, Nantwich, for assessment.

If the seal recovers fully, it is hoped that it will be possible to release it back into the sea in the near future.