A RARE white mole was caught in the grounds of a Roman museum.

Peter Gilchrist maintains the grounds and is the caretaker of the Roman Army Museum at Greenhead and was 'gobsmacked' when he caught the white mole in a trap on Wednesday, September 18.

"It was causing havoc so I had to put a mole trap in and I caught it the next day," he said.

The white moleThe white mole (Image: Supplied)

Peter said he only knew of two other instances of white moles being found.

"It's very rare, it's about a million to one chance of catching a white mole.

"I was shocked when I lifted the trap to find it. I suppose for a mole catcher it's the holy grail if you catch a white mole. I was quite gobsmacked actually," he added.

One of Peter's colleagues knows someone at Naworth Castle who practices taxidermy, so he has passed the mole on to be preserved.

According to the British Mole Catchers Register, just 0.001 per cent of the UK’s 40 million moles are true albinos.