After seeing the picture, Richard Pigram was keen to warn the Scottish public.

A mystery animal which was pictured in the Stirlingshire countryside is feared to be a huge monitor lizard.

There was much speculation after the creature was photographed by Jimmy Wright while he was out walking his dog on Crow Hill, Killearn.

Some felt the animal looked prehistoric and that Stirlingshire could be giving the Loch Ness monster a run for its money.

However, after seeing a photo of the creature on the Daily Record website, Richard Pigram, 67, from Nottinghamshire got in touch to say he thought the animal was a monitor lizard.

As these long-necked lizards can grow up to 10 feet and are potentially quite dangerous, he was keen to warn the Scottish public.

Richard said: “People have them as pets but they can bite people.

“If it’s true, I think people should take it seriously. It’s a dangerous animal.”

The lizards are also venomous with bites resulting in swelling and bleeding.

We sent the picture of the mystery creature to Edinburgh Zoo to see if they could shed any light on Richard’s theory.

Unfortunately the picture was not clear enough for anyone there to identify whether the creature is a monitor lizard or not.

The Scottish SPCA could also not identify the creature.