A SHOCKED pensioner has issued a warning to fish owners after koi and goldfish from a pond in his back garden were gobbled up by a creature he believes to be an otter.

Pete Bayley bought three small koi and a dozen goldfish six years ago. The fish grew to 12 inches in length while the goldfish bred and filled the pond with colour.

But, one dreadful day earlier this month, Pete returned home to find a horrific scene in his back garden.

He said: “The snow was still on the ground when I came down to the garden one morning and saw just the head and tail of one of my koi in the middle of the lawn.

“There were small clawed footprints in the snow.

“I went to the pond and there was just one small goldfish left of the 40 that had been in there.

“I was really upset and annoyed. Those koi have been with us since they were three inches long. They’d grown up with us and they were quite happy in there.”

Pete suspects that a greedy otter may have been the culprit behind the koi killings.

The 71-year-old added: “There is a net over the pond because my wife and I have had problems with herons there in the past.

“There is a small gap in one corner to let frogs go through that an otter could have slipped under.

“The bottom of my garden leads to a ditch with a stream in it by Croft Field.

“I think the otter may have swum up there and gone into my garden.

“It may have been there for two or three days and I just hadn’t noticed, there are quite a lot of weeds in the pond.

“Anyone with a fishpond in south Swindon should be careful. You could lose your fish.

“I wouldn’t want this to happen to anybody else.”

Pete has decided to take precautionary measures before deeming the pond fit for further fish habitation.

He added: “I’ve bought a wildlife camera and put six new goldfish in the pond to see if the otter comes back.

“I won’t be getting any more koi, just goldfish from now on.”

Otters are currently protected under UK law as their population has declined rapidly in recent years.

An otter was spotted in a Swindon garden in 2015, though they are usually hidden in waterways.