Pictures: Missing pet piglet Albert triggers big hunt around Telford
[gallery] An eight-week-old piglet left his owners worried after going on the run from his home in Telford.
Albert escaped from his pen at his home in Lightmoor on Sunday afternoon and had his owners searching for him for 16 hours.
The piglet was spotted by dozens of people around Telford and an appeal on Facebook and Twitter led to him getting safely home.
Mother-of-three Laura Pilley bought Albert on Saturday morning as company for her other six-year-old pot-bellied pig Lola.
But a day later he went missing when she went out shopping for wire to reinforce his pen.
The 34-year-old, of Gravel Leasowes, said: "Albert seemed to be smaller than he had looked from pictures.
"He must have escaped through a gap in the fence. We looked all around the lanes where we live. I went to knock on neighbours' doors and one of them said he was on Facebook. He had been seen in Lightmoor.
"I tracked him about 400 metres by following hoof marks but I couldn't track him any further."
She said people had shared comments on Facebook about seeing her pet and her search also led to her putting posters up to appeal for information.
She also put out her own appeal on Facebook urging people to check their shed and garages.
Albert, who will eventually weigh up to 12 stone, finally turned up on Monday afternoon after he was spotted in fields off Majestic Way, Aqueduct.
Mrs Pilley said: "We must have spent 16 hours looking for him.
"He had gone to Lightmoor Village, Doseley, Little Dawley and Aqueduct. He had probably covered six or seven miles.
"He eventually ran into a garden and a lady was feeding him fruit."
Residents managed to pen Albert in while one of them called Mrs Pilley after realising it must be her piglet.
Mrs Pilley said: "We are so relieved. His pen has now been reinforced and he won't be escaping again.
"A massive thank you to everyone who helped. There were so many people who shared the appeal. It was a real community effort."
