Metro Mayor Tim Bowles was found down the back of a sofa last night, much to the astonishment of the majority of the residents of Bristol, South Gloucestershire and Bath and North East Somerset, who had forgotten he even existed.

“I was elbow deep in the Chesterfield, angling for a 50p so I didn’t crash out of ‘Deal Or No Deal’ on the itbox, when I pulled out something sticky and pink” explained Gary Regular, frequent patron of the George and Dragon pub in Winterbourne, where the Metro Mayor was found, quite by chance.

“…it was an old piece of chewing gum. Then further down I found a second-generation iPod Shuffle – which I was really chuffed about. Then I pulled up both cushions and found what Clever Greg at the bar later identified as the Mayor of the West of England Combined Authority.”

If true, this may be the first confirmed sighting of the lesser-spotted Metro Mayor in a months.

“He seemed quite irritated that I had disturbed him so we kept our distance while Dave laid a trail of Bombay mix leading out the door. It wasn’t long before he was off on his merry little way.”

Of the four generations of iPod Shuffle, the second-generation of iPod Shuffle was described by Apple as “the most wearable iPod ever”.