Suffolk farmer loses all his contacts after pig eats phone

Peter Mortimer returned to his pig pen to find the mangled remains being chewed by one of his animals.

The 78-year-old has been farming at Metfield in the north of the county since 1969.

Peter Mortimer who had his mobile phone eaten by one of his pigs. (Image: Lucy Taylor)

He refuses to retire - and instead runs a "bed and breakfast" operation for around 1800 pigs which he keeps from one month old to 22 weeks.

He was cleaning out his pig pens after harvest around August last year when he discovered his Doro smart phone was missing from his back pocket.

"I climbed over the pen wall to clean the pigs out and about 20 minutes late I noticed it was gone," he said.

Peter Mortimer's pigs. (Image: Lucy Taylor)

"It was in the back pocket of my trousers - it was quite a hot day.

"It must have fallen out of the back pocket when I was climbing out of the pen.

"All we found was the red case. It was chewing that and throwing it about in the pen.

Peter Mortimer's pigs. (Image: Lucy Taylor)

Afterwards, the bereft farmer scrambled to recover his lost numbers so that he could get back in touch with work colleagues and friends.

"We searched high and low but no sign of the phone - only the case," he said.

When they rang the number a "not available" message came up.

Peter Mortimer who had his mobile phone eaten by one of his pigs. (Image: Lucy Taylor)

Peter - the son of a local vet who operated in the Waveney Valley for many years - started his farming life on a five-acre patch of land which his father had at Harleston.

He left agricultural college at Easton, near Norwich, on the Friday and began his pig business the following Monday. He has kept pigs ever since.

After the phone incident, his wife, Gillian, did what she could to find all the missing contacts - and Peter had to buy a new phone.

The mangled remnants of Peter Mortimer's mobile phone - which was eaten by one of his pigs. (Image: Lucy Taylor)

By coincidence, the couple's son, Richard, had a similar mishap.

He avoided a near-disaster with his mobile phone when it fell into a bale which he was preparing a few years ago. It was discovered at a stables in Kent and luckily he was able to get it back.

Peter Mortimer who had his mobile phone eaten by one of his pigs. (Image: Lucy Taylor)

Peter has kept the mangled red mobile phone case with "telephone" written on it as a souvenir.

"We never found any pieces - we searched the pens but we didn't have any joy before or after," he said.