The 'Beast Of The Loughor' was seen 25 years ago (From South Wales Guardian)

The 'Beast Of The Loughor' was seen 25 years ago

9:00am Thursday 21st June 2012 in News

A PANTYFFYNNON dog walker has been reliving his own bizarre encounter with ‘The Beast Of The Loughor’ more than 25 years ago.

Ken Rainford came forward after reading Guardian reports of a dead “alien-like” creature found in the River Loughor at Two Rivers by a group of friends out sunbathing earlier this month.

Mr Rainford himself made headlines in the newspaper in the mid-80s when he reported seeing a creature “looking like the Loch Ness Monster” swimming in a deep pool on the river.

“It was a hot summer’s day and my little mongrel dog was swimming in the Loughor by the old Pantyffynnon tip,” Mr Rainford recalled this week.

“Suddenly this thing seemed to come from nowhere and started swimming alongside. It was about three feet long and I called the dog out of the water because I was afraid it would attack.

“I’ve never seen anything like it before or since.”

Meanwhile, Guardian reader Joe Clement, of Ammanford, is adamant that the dead creature shown in the picture is a deadly snakehead fish originating from Asia and Africa. “I’ve compared photos of snakefish and lampreys and no way is that a lamprey,” he said.

However John Jones, secretary of the Ammanford Angling Association, disagrees.

“It’s definitely a lamprey,”

he said. “You can tell by the teeth.”