WINCHESTER'S longest-lasting puddle has been garnering publicity in recent months.

It is such a permanent feature that it is now also attracting flora and fauna. Green algae is colonising the bottom of the puddle which never entirely disappeared during the long dry spell earlier this month.

Pigeons are enjoying paddling in its shallow depths outside M&S on St George's Street. It's not quite the Serengeti but give it time.

READ MORE: Winchester's perennial puddle now accessorised. But is it art?

Previous Belgarum stories have made it to the lofty heights of a Facebook page called Angry People in Local Newspapers, about press stories from across the UK. The only real anger is the often hilarious self-righteous public comments that the stories attract.

The bottom line with our puddlewatch stories is that it is only a permanent feature because of the poor-quality road laying by the highways authority that sees the nearby drain at a higher level than the road surface. That's shoddy work that we all paid for.