THE MYSTERY surrounding an Australian possum found dead on a North-East country road has been solved.
It has emerged that the marsupial had escaped 18 months ago from Durham Police wildlife liaison officer Eddie Bell's animal collection.
Sergeant Bell had bred the six-year-old male bush-tailed possum at his home in Whitonstall, Northumberland.
The Consett-based officer said: "It's sad because being run over is not the way you would want to go. But at least it lived like a lion for the last 18 months."
The animal's untimely end is not all bad news though - it is soon to become a valuable addition to the Australian collection at Newcastle's Hancock Museum.
The possum died after being hit by traffic on the A68 at Broomhaugh near Riding Mill.
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