Onlookers have been left baffled by the discovery of a spiny seahorse more than half a mile inland in Poole - but an expert says the explanation is more simple than it might appear.

The aquatic creature was found outside Stanley Green First School, Stanley Green Road, about a 15 minute walk from the water.

Founder of The Seahorse Trust, Neil Garrick-Maidment, 54, believes it has been brought in by a seagull who dropped in hope to crack it open to eat.

He said: "This particular one is quite exciting. It’s a female spiny seahorse and we’ve had records before where seagulls have found them washup on the beach or in the shallows, pick them up, fly up high and drop it onto concrete to try and smash it open so that it can eat its contents.