A NOT-so-secret population of wallabies could be camouflaged amid Oxfordshire's countryside, according to residents who claim to have sighted them.

Oxford Mail readers came forward with eyewitness accounts of the Australian animals, after a dead wallaby was found outside Redbridge Hollow in Oxford last week.

Brian Lockyer, who emailed in video footage of a living wallaby, was "amazed" to spot one two weeks ago as it bounded between Benson and Tetsworth near Thame.

The 40-year-old, who lives in Didcot, was driving to his warehouse workplace in Tetsworth at about 5.30am.

He said: “I was going through some little woods and saw it looking into my headlights then was bouncing by the side of my car. I was shaking.

"I was driving as slowly as possible, it wasn't afraid at all. It was amazing - I was stunned.

"I found my phone and videoed it because I knew people wouldn't believe me. I posted it on Facebook and people thought I was in a drive-through zoo."

The father-of-three added: "I feel so special to have seen it."

Another emailer, who wanted to remain anonymous, sent in a second-hand photo of a wallaby said to have been snapped hopping outside houses in Blackbird Leys.

Long Wittenham farmer Steve Castle, whose medley of more exotic animals include flamingos, a giant tortoise and his ever-escaping llamas, said he was not surprised by the sightings.

The 65-year-old, who briefly looked after two wallabies at his menagerie two years ago, said: “I heard a few days ago that there had been one seen in Cholsey. Because of my llama fame people always think they are mine.

“There are lots living in the wild in this country. Obviously they are completely harmless – the biggest hazard is if they are on the road, much like deer.”

He said Oxfordshire’s population may have bred from a couple of dozen wallabies that he said were let out 20 years ago at Stoner Park near Henley.

His own brief stint with the mammals, which he borrowed for an open day, ended when they made an unsuccessful bolt for freedom.

He said: “They are very good with their little hands, they had pulled the wire apart.

“I drove out and one was stood in the middle of the road causing a traffic jam. The second one came back three days later."

A commenter on the initial online story, which reported the discovery by Abingdon Road couple Steph and Anthony McDonagh, thought they had seen one skipping in a field by the A34.