Family of otters delighting visitors to barrage

A family of otters has been delighting nature photographers and visitors to a river barrage this autumn.

The animals have visited the Tees Barrage in Stockton for the last few years and are becoming a more "common" sighting for visitors.

Mike Lowe, owner of the San Seb Coffee van, said the best time to see the animals "is from now until the end of the year".

He said: "It is really nice how they attract people to the area and families who have never seen a wild otter get that chance."

Amateur photographer Rick Ingham, from Thorpe Willoughby, North Yorkshire, has tried to grab a snap of the otters for the last three years.

"It's been a wind up really," he said.

"Every time I have been up I have not managed to get them on film."

This year he finally got lucky and captured the otters playing in the water, along with a striking shot of an otter standing on a log surrounded by autumn leaves.

"I got incredibly close and it was one of those photographer dream moments," he said.

"You are trembling while you are trying to press the shutter."

Steve Ashton, wildlife manager at the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust, said: "Healthy otter populations are often indicators of clean, unpolluted water and it's another positive indicator of how the Tees has improved over the past few years.

"I was there on Wednesday and there were quite a few people looking out for them.

"I managed to see one myself for the first time in the Tees Valley. I was over the moon."

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