A sculptor has spoken out after her life-size model of a tiger was mistaken for a big cat on the loose, leading to an armed police and helicopter search.

Some 10 officers looking for a dangerous beast prowling the countryside near Ightham Mote, Sevenoaks, yesterday instead found a local landmark made more than 20 years ago, sitting in woods behind Juliet Simpson's house.

The 85-year-old was working when she received a call from a neighbour, telling her armed officers were walking towards her house, in the village of Underriver.

"I had heard the helicopter overhead earlier. I walked up the lane to the policemen coming across the field and I said 'do you want to be introduced to the wild tiger?' By then they had already met a couple of people who had told them.

"It caused us all a great deal of amusement."

The grandmother created the model more than two decades ago out of resin and chicken wire.

"When I put it in the wood it sort of owned the area so I didn't sell it. It has become a local landmark.

"It's quite dilapidated now, it was vandalised and I had to patch it up,"she said.

The model is about 30 metres from a public footpath and over the years dogs have occasionally been frightened by it, but this is the first time it has been mistaken for a living and breathing animal.

Ms Simpson does not remember how long it took her to complete, but she went to zoo to observe tigers and watched videos of them in the wild, so the piece was as realistic as possible.

She is currently working on a piece based around the famous Shakespeare line "All the world's a stage".

"I am lucky, age is only a number, I am still very fit," she said.

A cyclist told KentOnline yesterday that he was stopped by an officer next to the historic landmark Ightham Mote.

He was told to get out of the area as soon as he could and not to leave the roads, because a big cat was on the loose.

Spokesman James Walker yesterday said: "Kent Police was called at 10.23am to Mote Road in Ightham following a report from a member of the public that a large wild cat had been seen in the area.

"Officers, including armed officers, attended as a precaution and, following a search of the area, have established there was no animal and no risk to the public."

Their search was briefly aided by the National Police Air Service.

Escaped animals, unusual finds and news from the RSPCA can all be found here.

Read more: All the latest news from Sevenoaks