A PIGLET was ‘scared for its life’ after it was thrown out of a van and abandoned.

People have described the moment they saw the pig dumped in Albert Place, Lower Darwen, outside SG Animal Feeds at around 9am yesterday.

Workers at the site managed to rescue the sow, who have called it ‘Princess the Piglet’, before it was taken away by a farmer to be checked over by a vet.

Amanda Gorton, 53, who lives next door to the business, said she heard a squeal and saw the pig run off towards the shop.

She said: “I was getting ready for work and saw the white van dump some rubbish on the road.

“Next thing I knew a little pink pig was thrown out and my husband and I were chasing it through the shop’s front yard.

“It’s horrible, the poor thing was scared for its life.

“We don’t know where it came from.

"I think it’s been bred and not wanted anymore.

“It’s disgusting to think it was just abandoned with nowhere to go.

“It’s now in a safe warm area and will be looked over by a vet.”

The porker is believed to be around six weeks old.

Andy Connell, owner of SG Animal Feeds, said the piglet’s capture took around 20 minutes.

He said: “I got to work to open up and two of the neighbours were running around trying to catch this pig.

“We managed to get her cornered and we used a blanket to capture her.

“She was cold and scared, but we gave her some pig nuts and she managed to calm down.

“It’s not something I usually deal with on a Friday morning and it made my day a lot more interesting.

“I rang round a couple of the farms in the area and no one knows where it has come from.

“It could have come from anywhere.

“It didn’t look injured and it was rather energetic.”

Farmer Edward Cowperthwaite, who looks after livestock in Pendleton, said: “It would not have been a nice experience for the animal.

“It might have been taken away from its mother. It’s quite cruel really.

“It would have been confused and not known what to do so it would have just ran for cover.”