Family stunned as huge 4-foot crocodile spotted on the loose in garden

A family were left in shock after they saw a “four-foot crocodile” on the loose in their neighbour’s garden in broad daylight.

Sarah Jayne Ellis, a nurse, saw the scaly beast through her bedroom window. She said it was close to the River Aire.

Ms Ellis is a nurse and said that she couldn’t investigate further because she had just completed a night shift.

Ms Ellis said that the crocodile had been found near Savile Road, and she was only able to see it again a few hours later.

This is the latest sightings of the ‘Castleford Croc’, which has been reported by locals several times in the Yorkshire region.

Speaking to Yorkshire Live, Sarah said: “I thought ‘that’s a crocodile’

“I was shutting the blinds in the bedroom when I saw it on the grass. I checked again a couple hours later, and it was gone.”

Sarah showed the photo to her sister-in-law Kate Ellis Holmes, a deputy headteacher from Huddersfield, who said family members were astounded.

Kate said: “When she told the story, I was just in genuine disbelief. I was shocked when I saw the photograph.

“I thought it was bizarre and a really interesting story.

“It sure looks like it’s a crocodile.

Sarah thinks the possible existence of a croc in Castleford needs to be investigated following on from a similar sighting last year, reports Yorkshire Live.

Lee Collings, a Yorkshire wildlife photographer, spotted a crocodile like creature while visiting Fairburn Ings nature preserve in May 2013.

He said he was unable to get a picture of the large reptile because it was “too fast to photograph” but said he was “confident” in what he saw.

The professional snapper said he was ridiculed about his claim with a man dubbing it the “Cass-ness monster”.

Later, more people claimed to have seen the same thing at another lake.

One of the witnesses took a video showing what they believe was a crocodile swimming in the water at St Aidan’s Nature Reserve at Swillington, near Leeds. This is just a short distance away.

Lee claimed that he heard of someone dropping a caiman (a smaller reptile belonging to the crocodile family) which looked more like what Lee thought he saw.

Last year Lee said: “I am 46 years old and have been a birdwatcher for over 30 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this, other than a crocodile or alligator.

“It walked like it was rigid. It moved slowly, but it was too fast to photograph. I finally realized what it was.

“It was 3ft to 4ft in length and about 4ins to 5ins high.”

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