A big cat has been spotted sparking a police operation in a village.
The animal is said to resemble an African Lynx and a report of its sighting has triggered a search of the area.
A call received by officers said the animal was dark grey and had pointed ears.
Derbyshire Police were unconvinced the report of the beast was real sighting.
But they did did send out officers to conduct 12-hour search for the big cat, reports Staffordshire Live.
A search party searched an area around the village of Ticknall, South Derbyshire on Friday.
It is not the first time a big cat has been reported being seen in the area
One caller claimed they had seen the animal with a giant body, pointed ears and was dark grey in colour in the centre of the village.
A spokesman for the Merica Police Safer Neighbourhood Team, an arm of Derbyshire Police said: "The slinky feline, which was described by the informant as resembling an African lynx was seen near the showground in the heart of the village.
"The cat-like, cunning beast was said to have a giant body, pointed ears and was of a dark grey appearance.
"Officers were briefed that the cat was apparently extremely large and was last seen in the Ticknall area around 7.30am hours on Friday morning."
The sent several officers from the Safer Neighbourhood team in Swadlincote were despatched to woods in Ticknall close to the location of the sighting to search for the beast.
A police spokesman said tongue in cheek: "Armed with binoculars and donned in camouflage as well as suitable-for-the-occasion-headwear, the team attempted to tempt the cat out of its hiding place with tasty treats, combined with repetitive calls such as: “Here, Kitty, Kitty.”
"With frustration, after a 12-hour search in dark, dank woodland the only item that was found that resembled an African Lynx was a bottle of Lynx Africa body spray. The offending deodorant can of litter has now been put behind bars and the search for the big cat will continue over the weekend’s shifts.
"A big thank you to the local community who assisted with the search, especially Ranger Karl from Staunton Harold Reservoir who provided much-needed, warming drinks in the torrential monsoon conditions.
"Clearly this creature has nine lives and we missed it by a whisker.
"On a serious note, if anyone observes a big cat near Ticknall please telephone 101 quoting Incident 312 of 29/10/21."
There have been many reported sightings in the past 15 years, with the last coming earlier this year in Willington.
There have also been reports of big paw prints being found after cattle had smashed down a gate.
Similar incidents and alleged sightings have also been recorded in Burton, Buxton, Derbyshire Dales, Burton, Amber Valley and Derby.
There are suggestions that some big cats were released into the wild when the laws on keeping them as pets changed in the 1970s as some owners wanted to escape a costly licence to keep one.
And the theory is that there may been some that have survived, preying on other smaller wild animals.
One lion tamer claimed he had released a panther and a puma in Derbyshire decades ago.
African Lynx are caracals and live in Africa and Asia and are sometimes called desert lynx.
They are small cats and grow only three feet long and bigger than a domestic cat in the UK.
Caracals have large ears with tufts of fur at the tips.
Their ears were designed to pick up the sounds of prey from long distances and they are generally a light brown colour.
