It's a piggy in the riddle!

Well, that's exactly what happened a Coleraine man on Christmas night.

For Robert Netherlay, who lives at Harpur's Hill couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the pig rooting around in his back garden.

The train conductor took pity on the animal and brought it into his kitchen.

Rab takes up the story: "I thought that someone was playing a

joke on me, then as the time went on, and no one confessed, I knew it wasn't a joke.

"I had my Mum and Dad and my sisters in the house with me, and to be honest we all kept laughing, wondering how on earth it got into my garden.

"I looked on the internet and figured out that it was a pot bellied pig, which can be kept as a pet, and to be honest it was really well behaved, so I had an idea that it belonged to someone.

"I rang the police, but they told me that it was my responsibility as it was on my property.

"I then tried the USPCA but, as it was Christmas night there was no one on duty."

Taking pity on the animal in the freezing cold conditions, Rab brought the pig into his house.

He fed it scraps and uploaded a photo of him and his new lodger onto Facebook.

"I put a picture on Facebook and my friends started ringing me thinking it was a joke.

"We even named the pig Peppa after the kids cartoon," joked Rab.

Given the freezing cold conditions outside, Rab decided to keep the animal inside over night.

"I thought that it would have made a mess in my kitchen, but to be honest there was no mess at all, I think it was just glad to get into the heat," said Rab.

And there was a happy ending for the pig - it was reunited with its owner on Boxing Day.

"It belonged to my neighbour's son, but we still have no idea how it found its way to Harpur's Hill," joked Rab