OVER the May Bank Holiday weekend, Badshot Lea naturalists were able to locate a rare visitor, that was earlier spotted in South Farnham.

The ’greater yellow breasted pothole dipper’ was found on the new water feature at Badshot Lea crossroads.

Responding, the Mayor of Farnham and Badshot Lea councillor David Attfield told the Herald: "Please look out for this rare visitor and report any sightings.

"This rare bird could appear on the many water features currently available throughout our town and villages!"

The sighting, also confirmed by Cliff Watts, chairman of the Badshot Lea Residents Association, comes after the Herald reported the number of potholes reported in Surrey earlier this year more than doubled the tally of previous years.

According to Surrey County Council’s cabinet member for highways, Colin Kemp, the number of potholes reported to the council in March was 8,377 - a whopping 4,526 reported potholes more than the average number of 3,851 in March over the previous four years.

The figures correlate with when the ‘Beast from the East’ and then the ‘Mini Beast from the East’ hit Farnham in March, and following the cold-snap, Surrey announced an extra £5 million pounds would be invested into the county’s roads.

But as Mr Attfield and Mr Watts’ sighting proves, this funding is yet to have an impact on much of the roads in Farnham and surrounding area - allowing rare waterfowl such as the pothole dipper to thrive.