Toy tiger scare sparks huge police operation

A tiger has sparked a huge panic in the North East.

Armed police were sent to an unnamed farm at the weekend, after it was spotted in a cow shed.

One officer said it looked well fed - in fact, it was stuffed.

A social media post about the incident said: "Photographs of said Tiger were sent to the control room and an expert Sergeant confirmed it was definitely real.

"Cue numerous units, including three ARV’s and a dog handler, being sent to the farm to tackle this beast.

"Nervous radio updates start coming in stating that it was unclear if the Tiger has eaten any cattle but it appeared well fed and it’s ears were seen to twitch but other than that it was very settled.

"After some time a rather sheepish sounding Sergeant comes on the air and declares that it was indeed a stuffed toy."

Peterhead Inspector George Cordiner said: "We received a call from an extremely concerned member of the public late on Saturday evening with regards to a wild animal being loose in the grounds of a farm in the Hatton area.

"Unusual as the call may have seemed, any call reporting a potential danger to the public has to be taken seriously and efforts were made to verify the sighting as soon as possible, including starting to make contact with the nearest wildlife park to make sure they did not have an escapee.

"As is standard practice when we are made aware of a potential threat to the public the use of firearms officers was considered as a contingency. In this case, they attended the area in support of the local community officers but they were not deployed nor required.

"Our ultimate aim is to protect the public and keep our officers safe when faced with uncertain situations. Until you know exactly what you are dealing with, every option has to be considered.

"The incident was stood down within 45 minutes once officers attended and established there was no threat to the public. We appreciate that it was a false call made with genuine good intent."