Train halted by report of lion on line - in Yorkshire!

[John Ashworth]

A lion on the line: passengers held at station after woman reports sighting

Travellers forced to remain on board a train for two hours in Shepley, Yorkshire, while police searched for the animal

Hannah Godfrey
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 6 November 2011 20.23 GMT

Passengers were forced to remain on board a train for two hours at Shepley station in Yorkshire on Sunday after police received a report of a lion on the loose in the vicinity.

West Yorkshire police received a call at 3.30pm from a woman saying she had spotted a lion as she was driving through Shepley, near Huddersfield. Officers say they believe the woman was a genuine caller but, after a two hour search involving a police helicopter and 12 officers, the inquiry was brought to a close with no lions found, and no further sightings.

Inspector Carlton Young, of West Yorkshire police, said: "We've had unconfirmed reports of a lion or a lion cub in the area. We've had officers looking around. We've had nothing confirmed and we've not located anyone who is claiming to have lost an animal."

National Rail Enquiries wrote on its Twitter feed on Sunday: "Passengers are currently unable to alight from trains at Shepley due to reports by police of a lion in the area." It later issued an update that normal service had been resumed.

In May a police helicopter was scrambled after a white tiger was spotted in a field near Hedge End, Southampton.

Specialist staff from Marwell Zoo were called to advise and potentially tranquillise the animal and a golf course was evacuated. But as police officers approached it they realised it was not moving and the helicopter crew, using thermal imaging equipment, ascertained that there was no heat source coming from it. The tiger turned out to be a stuffed toy.