A FRIENDLY dolphin which put a fishing village on the tourist map may have moved to new waters hundreds of miles away.

Marine experts believe an adult male bottle-nosed dolphin called Flipper could actually be Freddie, who attracted thousand of visitors to Amble, Northumberland, until it disappeared in 1992.

Shortly before vanishing, Freddie regularly swam with divers and entertained boatloads of visitors, but was injured by a propeller and suffered four deep gashes on the right-hand side of his back.

Experts at the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) have confirmed that the dolphin, named Flipper, which has taken up residence near Weymouth, Dorset, is a mature male which has scars in the same place.

WDCS conservation officer Jessica Feghari said: "It is difficult to tell a dolphin's age or confirm that one seen in two different places is the same animal. But Flipper certainly looks the right age to be Freddie, and among his many scars he does have some which look very much like Freddie's. It is possible it is one and the same dolphin."