Colchester: Aussie visitor caught on the hop

10:02am Wednesday 30th April 2008

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A driver's world was turned on its head when she saw a sight that really made her jump - a real-life wallaby bounding across Essex.

Yvonne Dowsing was not Down Under but down Warren Lane, in Stanway, when she spotted the marsupial jumping into trees.

Colleagues thought the judo enthusiast was pulling their legs - but the 38-year-old's story is not as wibbly-wallaby as it sounds.

Although wallabies are native to Australia and New Zealand, numerous sightings have been made in the UK of the creatures in the wild, including several in Suffolk.

Unlike with the elusive Beast of Essex, wallabies have been captured on camera, while several have been discovered dead on roads.

Miss Dowsing, of Berechurch, who works as a compliance analyst in Ipswich, said: "I was on my way back from judo in Halstead and I saw it at the side of the road. As my headlights hit it I saw it go back into the trees, hopping on its back legs.

"My friends at work just laughed, but I hadn't had anything to drink and I swear it was definitely a wallaby."

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