Workers at a city restaurant were in for a surprise after discovering a lone seal holding a large fish in its mouth swimming along the river bank.

An employee at Fatso's, located in Wherry Road, Norwich, first spotted the seal peeping above the water close to the restaurant at about 10.30am on Friday morning.

Chef Sam Betts, 25, "couldn't believe his eyes" after finding the animal and rushed back inside to tell his colleagues.

He said: "Why on earth would a seal be at Riverside? I couldn't understand it.

"It was great to see one up close though."

After telling his co-workers about the seal, they were unconvinced.

He added: "I didn't think to take a photo the first time and when they came outside to look, the seal had disappeared.

"Luckily, it returned just after lunchtime and everyone got a chance to see it."

While it is uncommon for seals to swim in the River Wensum, it isn't unheard of.

In 2019, a man reported that a seal had visited him on his boat on several occasions within a week.