Police were scrambled to hunt for a lion by three terrified health workers convinced they saw one of the beasts on the prowl in Bristol.
Two of the NHS Direct admin staff saw a mystery big cat lying under a tree near their office beside the M5 motorway at 7pm on Tuesday.
It disappeared into undergrowth – but minutes later a third colleague spotted a "huge blonde cat with long paws and long tail" prowling yards from their office window.
They dialled 999 and Avon and Somerset police scrambled their helicopter and sent officers to the scene at Almondsbury outside Bristol.
The chopper scoured the skies for an hour while the police on the ground carefully scouted around but they found nothing.
A check with Bristol Zoo confirmed that none of their lions were missing and the search was called off.
But the two women who first spotted the beast — named only as Paula and Liz — yesterday remained convinced they saw a lion.
Prowling
Paula said: "I was on a call and I glanced out the window and thought I saw what looked like a deer under the tree on the other side on the motorway.
"I tapped my colleague Liz on the arm to 'say look at that' and as I looked out Liz caught the same view as I did as the animal stood up.
"We waved to a few other people in the office but by the time they came over it had disappeared behind the bushes.
"The first concern was that after confirming we had both seen the same thing, was thinking if anyone else was driving past on the motorway, would they be at risk from looking and spotting the same thing.
"We made the decision we ought to alert the police."
Liz said: "It was a very large cat, very long tail, blondey like a labrador. I've never seen a domestic cat that size. That was one big girl prowling around out there.
"It seemed to look up and then walk away.
"It had a slightly darker on the back but the tail was very significant and definitely belonged to what I thought was a lion.
"We watched it for a couple of minutes just walking around opposite and then suddenly it disappeared from view.
"It didn't have a mane but it was a very large long cat. I thought 'what the hell am I looking at?' I was just in shock."
Minutes later the pair spoke to another worker who had also seen the beast as she pulled up in the office car park.
Liz added: "Not long after I went for my evening break and then another colleague saw what she described as a lion in the car park.
"So there was a second sighting and that was reported to the police.
"I was a little bit dubious when I left at 11pm but by then police had come round the area so you were safe in the knowledge that people were actually looking into it."
A spokeswoman for Avon and Somerset Police said: "We received two calls from witnesses who said that they had seen a lion or a big cat.
"We deployed the police helicopter and the area where the sightings were made was searched but we didn't find anything.
"We're not confirming it was a lion because we didn't find anything but two members of the public obviously saw something.
"We only sent the helicopter up as a precaution and we are not looking into it anymore. We consider this case to be closed."
Longleat Safari Park, near Warminster, Wilts, — the next nearest keeper of lions some 40 miles away — also confirmed all their big cats were accounted for.
(Original headline: Cops hunt for Bristol's prowling lion )
