The runaway wallaby was sighted again early this morning bounding towards Pewsey.

Anyone who happened to be out in the countryside south of Marlborough at 7.15am may have seen an Asian golden retriever chasing the Aussie marsupial across a field.

The pet wallaby broke free from a paddock near Marlborough on Wednesday night and has been on the run ever since.

James Laughton, 55, of Granham Hill, was walking his Thai golden retriever Captain and two Springer spaniels near the old railway line south of the A345.

He said: “We all saw it 100 metres away. I thought, this is a damn clever deer walking on its back legs.

“And then I realised what it was. By that time, Captain had pulled away, he’s a strong dog. He got through the fence into the field and gave chase. It was surprisingly fast.

“I think if Captain wasn’t on the lead he would have caught it.”

He said his Springers also got excited, but were better behaved and came to heel when he whistled.

Exuberant Captain was brought back from Thailand after Mr Laughton’s son was there teaching English.

The wallaby was first spotted in a quiet housing estate in Marlborough late on Wednesday.

Brian Williams thought he must have had more to drink than he had realised when he saw the creature as he walked back from Marlborough Football Club on Elcot Lane just before 11pm.

He alerted police and the officers who went out said there was a wallaby hopping along at 15mph towards the A4 London Road.

Irene Pielke, 59, was returning to her home in Elcot Nurseries by car at 10pm and was just turning into Elcot Lane when she spotted the animal sitting in the middle of the road.

“My friend and I looked at each other and said, ‘We’re in the wrong continent’,” she said.

“It was so weird. It sat there a couple of seconds, sitting on its massive tail. It was so big I wouldn’t have approached it, it must have been a metre tall.

“It looked at me, twitched its ears and then hopped into a neighbour’s garden.”

In warm weather wallabies are understood to remain still, probably in shade, and despite the owner’s search efforts it was not seen again yesterday.

It is thought today’s cooler temperatures have prompted the animal to go on his travels again.

Anyone with information should call 01225 773638 or email news@newswilts.co.uk

Police said they are not taking any action at this time but would like people to let them know of any sightings by calling 101.