An Austrian farmer has finally solved the mystery of why his cows had no milk - it was being drunk by three local pigs.

Hans Gumpitsch said he had been unable to work out why his cattle were not producing as much during the summer months until passing tourists snapped a picture of the piglets suckling their udders.

The three pigs, which belong to the local mayor Gaimberg Bernhard Webhofer, had been spending the summer months outside in the small town of Nußdorf-Debant in southern Austria.

Mr Gumpitsch told the Tiroler Tageszeitung the pigs were able to suckle the cows because they “drink from the udder with a lot of sensitivity” - if they had bitten or been too rough the cows would have kicked them away.

He said that after drinking their fill, the eight-month-old piglets like to lie down in the summer for a nap.