David Beckham has two and Paris Hilton has been snapped with one in her handbag – and when Shropshire woman Lisa Turk became the owner of a cuddly micro-pig she was assured it would stay small enough to be a house pet.

The miniatures are not supposed to grow any higher than about 14in in height, but Lisa’s pet is already more than 20in and still growing.

Lisa, of St Georges, in Telford, said her porky pet Digby was already tipping the scales at almost six stone just a year after buying him.

She claims she is one of many victims to unscrupulous breeders and has appealed for anyone who has a small patch of land for Digby, who is outgrowing the house and garden, to come forward.

Lisa, who bought the “micro-pig” last year, said: “We wanted to keep it in the house and that is how the pig was sold to us.

“He was supposed to grow to 14in in height and be the size of a small dog -but sadly that has not proven to be the case.

“He is one year old now and already he is over 20in in height and nearly six stone.

“His name is Digby and we have had to move him from being a house pig to living in the garden.

“This is still not an ideal solution as he is now getting too big even for our garden.

“I really want to make an appeal to see if anyone has a small patch of land which we could rent off them in Telford, so that we can keep Digby safe and so that he would be more happy. We do not want to rehome him.”

Lisa said the breeder who sold her Digby had since appeared on BBC’s Watchdog and she warned people about the dangers of being mis-sold pigs which breeders claim to be micro-pigs.

She said she had also set up a Facebook page for the pig which people could find by searching for Digby Smythe.

Lisa said she was planning to set up a group warning people of the dangers of buying micro-pigs and would give details to anyone who joined Digby’s Facebook page when it was all sorted.

Anyone who can help is urged to call Lisa on 07540 485993.

By Wayne Beese