A RARE white squirrel has been spotted and snapped in Northwich’s Marbury Park.

The squirrel is one of few in the UK to have a mutation called leucism, giving it the distinctive white fur – but not the red eyes – of an albino squirrel.

Joe Glimond, from Castle, was on his weekly walk in the park with his partner when the couple made the rare sighting last week.

“It was surreal,” he said.

“We thought it was a toy in the tree, so we wandered over and the next thing it scurried away.

“We followed it around and took some pictures, but a Siberian Husky came over and chased it away.”

A white squirrel in Marbury Park made national headlines back in 2015, but it is not clear if this is the same one due to the animal’s limited life expectancy.

Joe suspected what he saw was a seasoned eater.

“He was a chunky chap, so he might have had a good number of years of eating,” he said.

John Goodspeed, who maintains a record of white squirrel sightings, said the animal is ultimately still a grey squirrel – which is seen as an invasive species after its introduction to the UK in the 19th century.

He said: “Oddly, whereas a lot of us have a hatred for the grey squirrel, when we see a white one, we’re charmed by it.

“They’re grey squirrels and they behave like grey squirrels. They’re fun as they’re nice to look at, but it’s as simple as that.”