An amazed dog walker sent us these pictures of what appears to be a mink with a tortoise in their mouth.

She added: "When we first saw it we thought it was an otter with a turtle in their mouth.

"He saw us and tried to swim down under the water with the turtle but couldn’t so he went under the bridge and dragged it up on to the embankment.

"We’ve never see anything like it and we walk that route every day."

The animals were spotted around 4.30pm yesterday, Tuesday, but after close inspection of the photographs, the Cheshire Wildlife Trust believe it was a mink with either a tortoise or terrapin.

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A spokesman added: "We think this is definitely a mink as the tail looks too short to be an otter and otters have more of a flatter face with lighter markings on them.

"American mink is an invasive species in the UK.

"In the 1960s they escaped or were intentionally freed from fur farms.

"They’re now very well established in the UK so seeing them in Warrington may not be uncommon.

"They’re an active predator, feeding on anything that is big enough to catch, including ground-nesting seabirds and our native water voles, which are now under threat of extinction.

"Mink are much more likely to be seen than the shy and secretive otter."

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While the team were confident the predator was a mink, there are still plenty of questions regarding the animal in their mouth.

This could either be a tortoise or a terrapin.

The Cheshire Wildlife Trust said terrapins are known to be kept as pets and then released into the water at local parks so it could be that.

Or it could have been a tortoise that has escaped and ‘got lost’ resulting in a sad watery end.