THIS seahorse came up smelling of roses at Chickerell in Weymouth.

The marine creature, believed to be three or four years old, was found by chance in a garden miles inland.

The long-snouted seahorse, which is native to British waters and is endangered, was alive but in desperate need of help.

Staff at Weymouth’s Sealife Park believe the animal may have been dropped by a bird and are now nursing it back to health in a darkened aquarium.

Park display supervisor Claire Little said their latest addition has been very lucky.

She said: “We’ve had people leave terrapins and fish outside the entrance before now in a humane way so we could help them.

“But this is the first time we’ve actually gone out to rescue a seahorse, so it is quite unusual.”

Claire said staff at the centre were contacted by a woman who found the creature in her back garden and had put it into fresh water.

Staff from the Lodmoor Park centre rushed to the woman’s Chickerell home and went about transferring the seahorse into salinated water gradually, to avoid shocking it.

Claire said: “They can go into shock if they’re not treated carefully.

“We brought it back to the park to be assessed in our biological services unit for several hours.

“She seems fine now but we’ll continue to monitor her while she’s in quarantine for the next 28 days.”

Claire added that staff have avoided naming their new arrival because it can be ‘bad luck’ and are keeping it in a darkened aquarium to help keep it relaxed.

She said that after the seahorse’s quarantine period is over she can be placed into a brighter tank with other seahorses where it is hoped she will breed.

Claire added: “She has been quite lucky.

“They are fairly hardy creatures but it was obviously just very good fortune that she was found straight away and we were called.”