Real-life 'Babe' saved near Warwick after falling off lorry on way to slaughterhouse

Tom the six-month-old Large White pig owns cuddly toys, hangs out with his chicken and cat pals and even rolls over for belly rubs.

Owner Carole Webb, 82, rescued the tiny animal after he was found barely a day old on the side of the road with his umbilical cord still attached in March.

Carole, a retired veterinary nurse who runs an animal sanctuary in Wolverton, believes Tom's mother may have given birth while being transported and the piglet fell from the trailer.

A member of the public found him and kept him warm overnight before taking him to Carole the following day.

Tom, who was about the size of a kitten, was then hand-reared indoors with hot water bottles and heat pads.

Six months on, he has grown into a pampered porker weighing up to 200kg and is every bit as lovable as the famous pig from the hit 90s film Babe.

Great-grandmother Carole said: “Tom is really just like a real-life Babe, I expect most people have seen the films of him.

“He’s really friendly with the chickens, he’s got a lot of chicken and cat friends - really anything that goes in to see him is his friend.

“He’s a real character.

“He loves his cuddly toys, he’s had them for the day he arrived here and he always has one.

“He’s more like a dog now than a normal pig - he even comes when you call his name.

“He follows you around all the time and he’s got a treat ball like a dog has, where you put food in and it comes out through the holes.

"He plays around you and loves being near you.

“He’s got a big fluffy toy pig, and what he likes to do is lay over it.

“He loves his belly rubs, too - he’s just the friendliest little pig you could meet.”

Tom, named after Lord of the Rings character Tom Bombadil, now spends his days roaming a three-acre field at the Farm Animal Rescue Sanctuary in Wolverton.

His favourite companions are the chickens he shares the field with and he can often be seen lounging around with them.

But his idyllic life is a far cry from the extraordinary circumstances in which he was found.

Carole said: “He’s probably about six months old, it was a member of the public who found him in the road.

“She didn't know what to do with him and took him home and put him under a heat lamp. He survived the night and then she brought him to us.

“He still had his umbilical cord attached, and it was still wet.

“Perhaps the sow was being transported and gave birth in the trailer, and he fell through the trailer gaps.

“He is very tiny and he did hurt his leg, but he was alright.

“We kept him indoors, being small and vulnerable he had hot water bottles and heat pads.

“His leg was swollen and he was going a bit shaky, it was the case of keeping an eye on him every few hours.

“He was about the size of a kitten, he was very tiny. You could hold him in your palm.

“He probably weighs now 150-200kg possibly, he’s grown enormously.”

Tom now has his own house and the run of a field at the sanctuary.

Carole added: “He’s a bit boisterous so we don’t mix him with the sheep, but he’s got the run of one of the field, his own house, and he lives with the chicken and the cats which he loves.

“We’ve got about 350 animals in total, 280 sheep, cats, chickens, and another pig.

“We also feed the pigeons that are free-flying, and we’ve got an aviary that we put them in until they’re well.

“We’ve got quite a collection.”

The sanctuary is now trying to raise money to buy new land and continue caring for its animals.