Eel be liking the rain, no less than! Elongated fish is noticed on excessive avenue after swimming out of the gutter amid downpours

Shocked shoppers on the high street were treated to an unusual sight when an elongated fish was spotted swimming along the pavement after being washed out of a gutter by torrential rain.

St Aubin resident Dave Wood was left in disbelief after discovering a three-foot (90cm) eel thrashing in the gutter outside his Jersey home.

The unusual sighting occurred around 4.30pm on Wednesday, following a day of heavy rain and flash flooding across the island. 

Mr Wood and a neighbour worked together to rescue the creature, successfully returning it to the safety of the nearby harbour.  

He described seeing ‘movement in the gutter’ as he made his way back to his flat on Rue du Crocquet. 

He said: ‘I thought it was just light reflecting on all the water, so I started walking down the hill and it became clearer it was a snake or an eel.

Wood recalled that as a woman walked up from the bottom of the hill, they both stopped and looked at one another, uncertain of their next move.

Dave Wood said the eel was about 3 foot long, thrashing about and was very slippy too

He admitted he was initially unsure of the best way to assist the creature. 

Joined by the local lady, Wood began a search for help to ensure the eel was safely removed from its unlikely situation. 

Mr Wood added: ‘The lady went down to the wine bar – to see if there was a fisherman in there maybe, then a lad who I know came running out the Trafalgar pub with a tray and said ‘Oh my god look at this’ – he then bundled it into the tray.’ 

Recounting the unusual encounter, he suggested the eel might have been swept down from a flooded pond or stream located further up the hill.