A PET pig had his bacon saved after Bolton Council officials found there was nothing wrong with him living on a Bolton housing estate.

Del Boy, the Vietnamese Pot Bellied pig, was threatened with eviction from his home in Tintern Avenue, Tonge Moor, after neighbours complained of his anti-social noises and smells.

But his owner, 23-year-old Mandy Owen, defended his personal habits, claiming he was cleaner than a dog and even had his own toilet.

Officials from Bolton Council's Environmental Health and Pest Control departments were sent to the end terraced house after nearby tenants made complaints. One neighbour said he had caught 30 mice in traps because of Del Boy's messy eating habits.

But the officials could not find anything wrong with Del Boy living in the residential street.

Owner Mandy, who also has four young children, two cats and a dog, said: "I suppose hearing grunting and squealing is different from hearing a dog barking. But he's very friendly and dead soft."

Mandy got him as a birthday present in April for her two-year-old daughter Nikki.

The pampered pet, named after Del Trotter in the TV series Only Fools and Horses, is now firmly a member of the family.

He was first left in the house but now roams in the back garden and sleeps in a small shed. Mandy added: "We stroke and pet him and when you call him he comes running.

"He has got to have two slices of toast in the morning and he kicks the back door until he gets it."

But Mandy will have to wait until she has a licence before she can take him for walks.

However, Cllr Frank White told a meeting of Bolton Council the pig should have been booted out, claiming it was unsuitable for the area.

He said: "Would anyone like to live next to a pig?

"If you allow farmyard animals to live in the middle of a residential housing estate, where will it end?

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