Owner claims her "Teddy Bear" was mystery lion

More mouse-eater than man-eater.

Three year old Teddy Bear is a _Maine Coon, _a large breed of cat but in this setting, an unlikely candidate to be mistaken for a lion.

But when his owner heard about a dangerous predator on the loose in a field just metres from her home, she had her suspicions.

On Sunday night armed police, two heat-seeking helicopters and experts from Colchester zoo with tranquiliser guns, were scrambled to the scene.

It followed what police called credible reports of a sighting from a number of people at a nearby caravan park.

Police called off the search last night saying the sighting was either a large domestic cat or a wild cat. But those who originally spotted it were convinced by what they saw.

Cat breeder Rosemary Sayer had her doubts.

"When it came on the television, the photo on the television, I first of all I thought well that could be a Maine Coon - focused in on because the photo wasn't that clear, focused in you could really say that yes I'd see it more as a domestic cat rather than a lion yes, but knowing this breed of course."

Police have defended spending thousands of pounds on the search operation, saying they had to take the sighting seriously until proven otherwise.

Teddy meanwhile remains oblivious to the fuss his owner believes he caused... and isn't about to change his hunting ways anytime soon.