WITH its long dry spells this summer wasn't a vintage year for slugs but one unusually large and slippery customer has at least won the heart of nine-year-old Callum Brooks in Andover.

When 'Percy' the leopard slug was found in a compost bin he became an instant star and is fed on food most slugs can only dream of - if they do dream.

At present Percy, known as 'Limax maximus' by mollusk fanciers, is an impressive four and a half inches long but with care he could reach a whopping eight inches.

Slugs have many predators so Percy's unusual leopard skin camouflage will help him to survive life's trials and tribulations such a hedgehogs and thrushes.

"Now that we have found out his Latin classification we are thinking of changing his name to Gladiator," said Callum's father and Andover Advertiser photographer Andy.