A WOMAN who believes her beloved collection of carp fish was eaten by a gang of wild otters is warning other owners to be vigilant.

Dorte Mayoph, from Maesbrook, says 25 of her 26 fish were eaten last week after an attack on the pond in the garden of the property she shares with her husband Brian.

Dorte admitted she is devastated by the attack, and is urging people to be vigilant around their own stocks after the otters ripped through nets to get to the fish.

"It is distressing – I am urging any carp owners to be vigilant as I heard there were attacks in Maesbrook and in Pant too," she said.

"They are native to rivers here which are nearby, and they can travel on land – even sleeping on it – and they pillage basically."

Dorte said she and Brian has been working with their other animals when he made the grisly discovery, leaving her shocked and shaken.

She added: "I saw one on the ground – I was mortified because it was one of our five-year-old fish that was one of our first babies.

"They managed to remove part of the net and our pond is over one metre and 60 centimetres deep so a cat couldn't go down and get them.

"There were fish pieces everywhere and the next day we got a new net because the old one was broken but when we took it off, we could see that 25 of the 26 had been removed.

"I was shocked – I don't think I've cried as much but then we talked to professionals who work with fish ponds and they said that it was otters.

"They said they had had otters before, where they can tear the net apart and go down into the water, because obviously they can swim, and eating the fish.

"They were all big fish and they got full, but I have no idea how many otters there were.

"I read more about them because I wanted to know more but apparently they do roam in gangs and groups – wild otters."

Dorte added that she is unlikely to build up new stocks, describing the whole experience as 'horrible'.