Swapping the car for a camel: Meet the family who use their six-strong herd to pick up the children from school as well as head to the pub and run errands in townFossett family are Britain's only owners of a herd of the animals
Locals in Idlicote, Warwickshire, have become accustomed to spotting the family out and about on the beasts
Get through 400 bales of hay a year, thousands of gallons of water and fed on a diet of sugar beat, barley and oats
By Jill Reilly
PUBLISHED: 22:19 GMT, 20 June 2012 | UPDATED: 06:14 GMT, 21 June 2012
If they don't fancy a car trip to pick up their children from school, the Fossett family simply hop on one of their six camels.
Rebecca and Joseph are the only people in Britain to own a herd of the animals which are normally desert dwellers.
Their camels - named Ruby, Sahara, Sophia, Kokoso, Kazak and Veneta - live in fields surrounding their village home.
Locals in Idlicote, Warwickshire, have become accustomed to spotting the couple along with their two children Daisy, 13, and Leo, 10 out on the beasts.
Mrs Fossett, 42, said: 'They are very much a part of the family. The kids joke that the camels get treated better than they do.
'We love them as if they were extra members of the family.
'Our local pub even has a sign that reads 'dogs and camels welcome'.
'They can be very high maintenance and take an awful lot of care, but the similarities between them and domestic animals are plentiful.
'They prove to be great company and are very affectionate.'
The family has owned their herd of three dromedary and three Bactrian camels for five years.
Mr Fossett, who was raised in a circus family, has always had a long-standing connection with the towering mammals, which can grow to seven feet tall and weigh 2,000lbs.
And despite normally being found roaming the Gobi desert or Arabian plains, these six camels - which cost £10,000 each - can today be seen on the tree lined lanes of Warwickshire.
Mr Fossett, 52, said: 'I had camels as a child while growing up in the circus and have loved them ever since.
'They are such great animals, all with their own intricate personalities.
'We have already got bundles of animals from dogs and cats to ferrets.
'But the camels are priceless - I wouldn't swap them for all the tea in China.
'We are the only people in Britain who have a whole herd of camels and I can't see that changing any time soon.'
The family, who have turned their bizarre pets into a thriving business, regularly take friends, family and paying customers on treks across the countryside.
And parents at the school gate are used to seeing Rebecca pick up her kids astride the towering mammals several times a year.
Mrs Fossett has even occasionally shunned the family car for their more environmentally friendly transport - that runs on oats and grass - to pick up the groceries.
Mrs Fossett added: 'We go out in public with them once or twice a week - sometimes for a trek. People love seeing them.
'Obviously people are surprised - it is not every day you see camels strolling down the road. They do look out of place.
'We get comments all the time about how mild-mannered they are and how they smell so clean. They have a bit of a bad reputation but it is very undeserved.
'The camels are very good around people. People think they are grumpy and spit all the time but that couldn't be further from the truth.
'They are in fact incredibly nosy and rush to the garden gates to have a look whenever anyone goes past, so they enjoy being out and about and interacting with people.'
Mr Fossett continued: 'They love the beach, they think it is great.
'As soon as they get the sand between their toes you can see they instantly feel at home.
'The sea slightly puzzles them. We haven't been for a while because of the weather but if the summer is nice maybe we will get the chance to take them down there for a day.'
It costs the couple thousands of pounds each year in upkeep - including hay for the stables purposefully built in their garden.
They get through 400 bales of hay a year, thousands of gallons of water and feed them on a diet of sugar beat, barley and oats.
And as a treat, the camels will be served freshly picked strawberries.
Mr Fossett said: 'They aren't the cheapest pets that's for sure, but we wouldn't change it for a thing.
'It is hard to pinpoint exactly how much we spend as there are lots of hidden costs like grooming and the upkeep of the stables but it costs thousands each year.
'They are high maintenance and you need to know how to care for them properly. I wouldn't recommend them as a pet unless you have many acres of land and a great knowledge of their needs.'
After hand rearing two of the latest additions to the herd - Kazak and Sahara - the pair decided to cash in on their unique pets, setting up a company, Joseph's Amazing Camels.
They now hire out their six thoroughbred mammals for parties, events and racing.
And incredibly, such is the value of the UK's only camel herd, the pair have public liability insurance totalling a staggering £5 million.
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