Mystery over goats living on residential Stoke-on-Trent street

Resident Julie says "half the street feed them, half the street don't really want them here"

Residents of a street in Stoke-on-Trent have been looking after a small herd of goats that appeared mysteriously two months ago.

Opinion on Longport Road, however, is divided over the newcomers.

While some residents feed the animals, others have a rather more gruff response, think their neighbours must be kidding, and would rather the interlopers hoof it.

The locals said they have approached the RSPCA.

Resident, Julie, however is a convert, and tells the BBC she has been feeding bread sticks and peanut butter sandwiches to the visitors of unknown origin.

"They can get a bit stinky," she said, "but I think they're great, I love them.

"A lot of people feed them, a lot of people bring down healthier stuff."

She added she had no idea where the animals came from, and said they just appeared in the street one day.

"It is a bit of a strange place to leave goats," she said.

A more critical resident, who asked not to be named, said: "People park dangerously [to look at them]. It's absolutely horrendous. It's disgusting."

Another said: "We call the RSPCA all the time."

The charity has been contacted for comment.

Some of the goats have been described as "a bit cheeky"

The street originally awoke to one new arrival in January, and the following day, four more had appeared overnight.

The goats spend their time on a fenced patch of land, but it would appear that gates were not opened to allow the animals access, and they instead navigated walls and gardens to get on site.

A small hut, already in situ there, affords them shelter, and food is passed through the bars, although one goat is said to be so small, it can squeeze through.

As the site was near a busy road, one neighbour said there was a health and safety issue and they felt they were effectively on "goat watch" as a result.

"I think they should go," they told the BBC. "They're a danger. One of the little ones can slip through the railings… If one of the goats runs out into the main road… it's dangerous."

In the meantime, a mystery remains - yet perhaps, one might say, not the Greatest Of All Time.

The goats have been fed by people living on the street

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