A STARTLED couple spotted a rare albino visitor to the region when an all white swallow landed in their garden.

Angela Searle and Robert Metcalfe spotted the unusual swallow sitting on telephone wires at the rear of their home in Great Smeaton, near Darlington.

The couple have swallows nesting on their Church Cottage home but the albino bird seems to be an outsider.

Mr Metcalfe said: "Angela spotted it around 8.30am on Sunday, September 5, and shouted for me to have a look at it.

"I have never seen an albino swallow before. It was a young bird and it’s not one of those that is nesting on our house.

"We haven’t seen it since so it may have been killed. It was difficult to see when it was flying and I was surprised to see it.

"I think there is a one in 80,000 chance of there been an albino swallow. I have heard of one in Aberdeenshire."

RSPCA research shows that swallows are one of six birds most susceptible to albinism and there are records of albinism in over 160 species of British birds.

An RSPCA spokesman said: "In general albinos are very rare in the animal world.

"They’re rare genetically and in birds it makes them stand out more and it makes them more visible to predators."