A KEEN photographer has hard evidence a giant rodent is living on the banks of the River Severn.

Jeff Long was enjoying a cruise from Tewkesbury to Upton-on-Severn when another passenger shouted they had spotted a capybara.

There have been at least four sightings of a large rodent on the riverbank.

"Someone on the boat shouted they saw the capybara on the banks," said Mr Long of Old Road North in Kempsey.

"I'd read about the capybara in the Evening News so I just tried to get a picture of it," said Mr Long.

"It looked like a giant guinea pig, the same size as a dog."

Mr Long happened to be carrying his camera with him but he only had one last shot on the film to capture the elusive animal before it slipped into the water.

The animal was on the river bank between where the Mythe and M50 bridges cross the Severn , on Wednesday August 22.

Mr Long had no idea if the picture would come out when he had the film developed.

He was delighted with the clear shot.

The capybara is the world's largest rodent and is more likely to be found in the South American savannah.

The only capybaras in the area were kept at the Malvern Hills Children's Zoo.

But when the zoo closed two years ago, Reg, Sybil and their offspring Eeny, Meeny, Miny, and Mo, were moved to a new home in Northampton.