Hedge shaped like a cat meows its North Shields neighbours

The impressive cat-shaped hedge appears to be sitting on the front wall of its owner's terrace house Credit: NCJMEDIA SYNDICATION

A perfectly groomed cat has been meowing its neighbours on a residential street in North Shields.

The hedge on Cleveland Avenue has been lovingly trimmed by owner Helen Saunders and has become somewhat of a local attraction.

"It grew from a tiny little bush about 15 years or more ago," said the cat-lover."My neighbour said that with that kind of bush, you could do topiary with it and I thought, 'oh, I will try it', I was just going to grow these ball things, and then it just grew and started to look like a bird - but then I thought of a cat, because we like cats."

Picture purrfect

The purrfectly trimmed feline, Merlin, sits proudly on Cleveland Avenue Credit: NCJMEDIA SYNDICATION
The work of art has taken more than ten years to perfect Credit: The purrfectly trimmed feline sits proudly on Cleveland Avenue

The design has taken more than ten years to purrfect and has had several incarnations - from Ginger, Buster and Annie, to Jasper, Lucy and now Merlin.