WOULD you believe it! I'm reliably informed that a few descendants of beady-eyed escapees from an old-time Moss Bank mink farm could still be rustling among the Carr Mill Dam undergrowth.

Must confess that when I first heard of this possibility from customers of this page, a week or two ago, I had grave doubts as to how any of these vicious little victims of the fur-coat trade could have managed to survive, several decades after the mink farm folded.

Nevertheless, I cast out my line for clues, and now I'm delighted to have had a bite from a number of coarse fishermen familiar with that picturesque Carr Mill Dam location.

Among them, Malcolm Rigby, chairman of St Helens Anglers Association, who tells me that over the past few years a total of about seven mink had been caught in the Dig Pit steam, close to the dam.

ANYONE made any recent sightings ? If so, I'd love to hear more.