ST Peter’s C of E Primary School welcomed a new arrival last week in the form of an otter.

The Mayor of Farnham, Mike Hodge, joined the school for an assembly to present the otter as part of the Otter Wey Trail.

The school is currently planning a design to decorate the otter with, which will then take its place among the other otters in the local Blooming Art project when it’s finished.

The mayor said: "It was an absolute pleasure to visit St Peter’s to present them with their otter alongside Richard Holway MBE who very kindly sponsored not only the otter, but also the artist to decorate it.

"We had a wonderful reception from the pupils and their families during assembly when we enlisted pupils to help us unveil the otter and we gave a short presentation about the project with the help of Blooming Art’s Jo Aylwin."

The otter will be decorated by the children and will be shown at Farnham Carnival before being auctioned.

The aim of the Otter Wey Trail is to raise awareness of the plan to rehabituate otters to the Farnham stretch of the River Wey.

Katie Marshall, art leader at the school, said: "We’re really excited to be taking part in this project.

"Not only does it help children to see their role in the wider community, but as an Artsmark Silver school it presents an exciting opportunity to celebrate our artwork in a public forum.

"We will also be learning about the importance of bringing the otters back to their natural habitat.

"If children understand these environmental issues, they can pass their knowledge on to future generations."

Mr Holway is the chairman of TechMarketView, based in Farnham, and decided to sponsor the otter because his Godson, who is also the son of the company’s chief analyst Georgina O’Toole, goes to St Peter’s School.

He said: "I learned about the Otter Trail at the Farnham carol service and thought this was a really great idea.

"So decided this would be a great way of putting something back and helping a number of local charities - and having some fun too!"