AN ENDANGERED eel was spotted in the middle of a flooded road. 

Richard Holgate, an avid photographer, captured an image of the freshwater eel at Moors Valley.

He said: “A gentleman who spotted the eel, caught it in a plastic container, then put the eel back in the big lake by the Moors Valley railway.”

It is estimated globally only 5 per cent of the population is left compared to the numbers in the 1970s.

Dorset Wildlife Trusts’ assistant conservation officer (Rivers and Wetlands), Colleen Smith-Moore, said: “It is hard to see from the image, but it is safe to assume that this is a European eel.

“They are capable of wriggling through wet grass to reach other areas of water.

“Presumably, this individual has been stranded by recent flooding.

“All being well, it will be able to gain access back to a main waterbody of its own accord.

“European eels can be spotted in freshwater, from rivers to ditches.

“But they can also be seen in saltwater too, depending on the stage of its lifecycle.”

Dorset Wildlife Trust encourages anyone who spots one to report their sighting to the Dorset Environmental Records Centre.