FAMILIES in Dalgety Bay were left mesmerised after a rare sighting of an octopus on the local beach.

Kirsty Armstrong, who was with her daughter at the time, said she had lived in the area for 30 years but it was the first time she had ever seen one of the creatures on the sands there.

Her post about her find attracted a lot of attention from locals with one woman also saying she witnessed the unusual sight.

Rebecca Seal said: "He was stranded on the beach looking very dead at lunchtime but we popped him in the water and he perked up. Fingers crossed he makes it!"

Octopuses normally keep to deeper waters, which makes their appearance on the shore an unusual sight.

It's thought that many are living in the Firth of Forth as a gateway to the North Sea.