Police investigating the so-called 'Croydon Cat Killer' have said he or she doesn't exist.

The Met said: "Following a thorough examination of the available evidence, officers working alongside experts have concluded that hundreds of reported cat mutilations in Croydon and elsewhere were not carried out by a human and are likely to be the result of predation or scavenging by wildlife."

The announcement will come as a shock to dozens of owners around north Kent and the rest of the county who have been seeking justice for their pets.

Only last week Pauline Easdown, of Wilmington, spoke of her concern black and white moggie Maisie had been targeted after she was found with her ear cut off on a neighbours' drive.

South Norwood Animal Rescue League (SNARL) has been helping police with the investigation and spokesman Tony Jenkins said Maisie was "definitely a victim of the cat killer".

A mutilated cat was found in Cutmore Road, Gravesend, in July, and was also believed to be a victim, while the remains of a grey tabby were found strewn across Cheriton Road, Folkestone, earlier this month.

Police are now urging the public to contact the RSPCA in the first instance where they have concerns about animal welfare, especially in cases where there is no direct evidence of human involvement.

In November 2015, officers began an investigation into reports of mutilated cats, often found with their heads and tails removed, in Croydon and the surrounding area.

Officers worked with the RSPCA and SNARL from the outset.

"There was no evidence any of the cats had been killed by a human, however media reports of a ‘Croydon Cat Killer’ or an ‘M25 Cat Killer’ led to widespread public concern about cats being harmed and subsequently many more allegations were received..." - The Met Police

The Met today said: "There was no evidence any of the cats had been killed by a human, however media reports of a ‘Croydon Cat Killer’ or an ‘M25 Cat Killer’ led to widespread public concern about cats being harmed and subsequently many more allegations were received."

In 2016, SNARL arranged 25 post-mortems on cats which had been found mutilated. These were conducted by a veterinary pathologist. The cause of death was found to be blunt force trauma, such as collisions with vehicles. The mutilations were found to have occurred after death, and some of these were thought to have been caused by a sharp implement.

Six deaths were deemed suspicious and the Met began investigating.

While investigating officers in Croydon collated more than 400 additional reports made to the Met by the public or animal charities.

The investigation took almost three years and no evidence of human involvement was found in any of the cases. The Met added: "There were no witnesses, no identifiable patterns and no forensic leads that pointed to human involvement. Witness statements were taken, but no suspect was identified."

In three instances CCTV showed foxes carrying bodies or body-parts of cats.

A woman in north London said in April 2017, after finding the mutilated body of a cat in her garden, she checked CCTV and saw a fox carrying the head.

Last June a cat’s head was found in a school playground in Catford. CCTV showed a fox carrying it.

A month later the body of a cat with no head or tail was found next to a property. CCTV footage again showed a fox drop the cat in the position in which it was found.

Officers also took note of expert opinion - including a recent, widely reported New Scientist article - which highlights how wildlife is known to scavenge on road-kill, often removing the heads and tails of dead animals.

Similar cases were investigated by Hertfordshire police.

Dr Henny Martineau, the Head of Veterinary Forensic Pathology at the Royal Veterinary College, carried out post-mortems on three cats and two rabbits in June.

She concluded the mutilations had been caused by 'predation and/or scavenging', and highlighted fox DNA had been found around the wound sites on all five bodies.

Following this the pathologist who carried out the original post-mortems conducted re-examinations on the six bodies last month. He found puncture wounds not found previously on some of the animals and concluded some had been potentially scavenged.

Additional forensic tests were carried out which did not show any difference between marks on the cats that had been scavenged and those whose mutilations had been deemed suspicious.

A spate of reported mutilations some 20 years ago were eventually attributed to predation by wildlife..

Today Croydon officers met with SNARL and the RSPCA to set out the investigation’s final conclusion that there is no evidence of human involvement. All of the cases of cat mutilation will be recorded as ‘no crime’.

Frontline policing commander Amanda Pearson said: “On average, the Met receives more than 1,000 calls each month relating to animals and animal welfare.

“We understand the reason for this - people trust the police to help them when they suspect others have done wrong, fear for their own safety or simply are facing situations that they are unable to handle themselves.

“We will always assist the public in an emergency, but I would urge people to report concerns relating to animal welfare in the first instance to the RSPCA.

“The decision was made to allocate a large number of similar reports of mutilated cats to the officers who were investigating the initial spate of such allegations. In particular, they were following up the six suspicious cases identified by the post-mortem examinations.

“While this increased the workload of those officers, it significantly reduced the resources that would have been required for different officers in different units to record and assess each allegation separately.

“It is this collating of reports that enabled officers to work with experts and reach the conclusion that no further police investigations are required into any of the allegations relating to mutilated cats.”

SNARL has been approached for comment.