PUB owners thought they were in the middle of a real life joke when a pony walked into their bar over the weekend.

Instead of asking ‘why the long face?’ staff at Yates’s in Wrexham took pity and fed and watered the pony.

The owner, believed to be from the local gipsy community, was also spotted trying to buy a train ticket for the pony at Wrexham General Station on Saturday.

And the pony was spotted again yesterday afternoon in the town centre outside the Mini Market and on Regent Street near Glyndwr University.

On Friday the small white pony was seen outside several pubs in Wrexham was spotted inside the town’s Wetherspoons on Regent Street.

Lorna McCarroll, 33, of Wrexham, who manages Yates’s, spotted the pony on her way to work.

She said: “I was in a taxi going to work as I got out I saw the man taking the pony into another bar. I went in and took the pony out. He told me they wouldn’t serve the pony.

“We tied it outside across from the bar outside the old Golden Lion which is closed down.

“I took it out and gave it some food and water. We gave it a three course meal with vegetables. We got the chefs to make some food for it.

“He said it was pregnant and somebody said it was close to giving birth, I was ready to feed it, but I wasn’t ready to do that.”

Lorna, originally from Glasgow, said she had heard rumours of a man walking through the town with a horse when she moved to the town but thought it was an urban myth.

She said: “I heard it is not the first time he took it out. The CCTV camera was watching him and lots of people were stopping to pet him.

“There were about 150 people standing and watching.

“I had not seen anything like it in my life. I couldn’t believe it.”

The man was seen trying to board a train with the animal, but was refused a ticket.

An Arriva Trains spokesman said: “We allow dogs and small animals to travel on-board trains. All animals, expect dogs, must be conveyed within a fully enclosed basket or pet carrier with dimensions not exceeding 85cm x 60cm x 60cm.

“Large animals, including horses and ponies, which may pose a risk to the general public are not permitted travel.

“The man in question who attempted to board the 7.02pm train from Wrexham General to Holyhead on May 14 with his pony was refused travel. He then left the station.”