FANS of Keith the seal can breathe a sigh of relief as the wayward animal has been spotted again in the River Severn.

It is the first sighting of Worcestershire’s favourite seal in months after it left the county in January.

Photographs and a video of Keith were snapped by stand-up paddle boarders swimming in the River Severn just below Gloucester last week.

During the seal’s two-week stay in Bewdley in January, the Angling Trust feared the animal was harming fish stocks and applied for a licence to shoot it as a drastic last resort.

Uproar from Keith fans caused a deal to be struck with the British Divers Marine Life Rescue to relocate the animal instead.

Neither method has been needed as Keith, who is thought to be female, seems to be making its own way back to the sea.

Paddle boarder Tristan Bawn, of Bristol, filmed the seal playing in the river and posted the footage on the Facebook page for his charity efforts Source 2 Sea 2013.

Excited messages and comments were sent from people in Worcester and Bewdley telling the 34-year-old all about Keith.

Mr Bawn said: “She was very confident and was playfully grabbing the paddle, pulling on the leash and trying to nibble the board.

“Once we posted the video we had hundreds and hundreds of comments from people and that’s when we heard about Keith.

“I checked the seal in our footage and the pictures of the seal on the Save Keith the Seal Facebook page and the markings are the same on both animals.”