A man was left rubbing his eyes in disbelief after opening his front door to find 28 sheep staring at him.

Mark Nichols got the fright of his life at 3am today (January 25) when he went to investigate a noise coming from his garden.

Still half asleep, he poked his head out the door to discover the flock eating his plants.

The man, of New Pond Hill, Cross in Hand, near Heathfield, contacted the police but the farmer is yet to be found.

In an attempt to solve the mystery himself, he took to Twitter.

In one post, he said: “That’s my sleep gone. Dog barking wildly. Police at my door, 28 sheep in my front garden!”

Later he added “Get the flock out of here.”

This afternoon he posted: “Some of these sheep look pretty big. Concerned they are gonna lamb soon. Think I better buy some long gloves on the way home #sheepgate.”

The police issued an appeal this afternoon in an attempt to find the farmer.

A spokesman said: "We have so far been unable to find the owner of the sheep and we would ask that anyone who has lost some sheep gets in contact with us.

"We are very grateful to the resident who has kept the sheep safe while enquiries are carried out and would like to thank him for his patience."

Anyone with information should call 101 quoting serial 192 of 25/1.

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