An albino squirrel has been spotted in Wallington.

The bushy-tailed rodent was spotted by Sarah Romain after her dogs started going “nuts”.

The rare rodent, whose albinism only affects one in 100,000 squirrels was seen squirrelling away, climbing the washing line and chasing it’s own tail.

Miss Romain, 39, an insurance loss adjuster who was working from home at the time of the sighting, said: “I had just answered a call at home when my dogs started going mad at the back door.

“I went over and tried to calm them down but they just kept barking, that is when I saw this white thing, I thought was a cat, walking along the fence.

“I looked closer and saw a bright white bushy tail and thought I was seeing things, it was bizarre.

“I’d never seen or heard of white squirrels so it was a bit of a shock for me.”

Albino squirrels do not live long due to their bright colour which are easily spotted by predators.

They have pink eyes and the albinism is caused by a melanin deficiency.

Albinism is caused by a group of inherited genes and squirrels can also be found in pure black which is caused by melanism – the opposite of albinism.

• Do you know more? Let us know by email here, phone the newsdesk on 020 8330 9555 or leave a comment below.