Sergeant Callum McKinnon of Heywood police said he was called into the chase on Thursday evening to help out a Glenelg Shire bylaws officer who was also on the lookout for the runaway pigs.

He said the bylaws officer told him the council had already chased the pigs that didn’t want to stay home three times earlier that day.

The two officers did a search of the town before corralling the escapees and herding them in the police car through Lindsay, Best and Markham streets.

It appeared the pigs knew they had been busted and were running back to the home they had gone wandering from.

Sergeant McKinnon said the pigs ran into the backyard of the home and he left it to bylaws officer to deal with the miscreants.

In other police news, a 44-year-old Tarrington truck driver has been spoken to by police after a truck with a leaking fuel tank left a trail of diesel stretching up to 15 kilometres on roads in Hamilton and surrounding areas.

Sergeant McKinnon said the diesel trail on the roads caused a safety hazard to motorists and the driver might be hit with costs from Southern Grampians Council for the clean up.

He said the diesel trail started at the Hamilton Regional Livestock Exchange and went along a number of roads before the truck stopped at a repair centre to get the leak fixed.

Sergeant McKinnon said it appeared the driver knew that fuel was leaking from the truck while he was driving.