Police called after public spot a tiger in back garden - it was a cuddly toy

A neighbour received one hell of fright after spotting what they thought was an escaped tiger - but the reality was a lot more cuddly as it turned out to be a soft toy.

After hearing reports from members of the public that there was a tiger on the loose "pawing in the grass" police officers responded to a call on Monday morning and arrived at the home in Oldham where they discovered not everything was as it seemed.

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Turns out the terrifying tiger was in fact not real and was actually a cuddly toy which Great Manchester Police (GMP) gave the nickname "Tony The Tiger," a nod to the famous big cat which features on the cartoon advert for Kellogg’s Frosties.

In a post to their Old Central Facebook page, GMP posted a photo of Tony at night relaxing in the grass under a tree, with the post title: "Concern for welfare."

The post read: "Yesterday evening Oldham Police earned their stripes when they were contacted by a concerned member of the public of a tiger lose in nearby gardens that appeared to be pawing in the grass."

"Officers arrived quickly and after evaluating the situation agreed it was in fact not a real animal but a toy – Tony The Tiger!"

They even cracked a joke about the whole thing, writing: "Tony the Tiger was asked for a comment about Oldham police he said 'They're grrrrrrrreat!'

"Tony is now safely booked into property at Oldham Police station," they added.

Of course, people had a good old laugh at the situation in the comments section.

One person wrote: "GMP, they’re g g g great."

"I bet everyone thought GMP couldn't deal with this, but you showed them that you Shere Khan," another person said.

Someone else joked: "Was it a cereal offender?"

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