A COOKLEY woman says she fears letting her grandchildren play in her back garden on their own after it was "attacked" by a mystery animal.

Wendy Huntley said she had no idea what creature could have ripped her lawn to shreds - but feared it could have been a big cat chasing another animal.

She explained she was "absolutely horrified" when she looked out of her window one morning last week to see that huge expanses of grass had been scratched up in clumps.

Her mini greenhouse had also collapsed on two occasions in the last five weeks, "as if something had jumped over the wall on to it", she said, and she has heard an animal screaming during the night.

The 63-year-old, whose garden in Westhead Road, Cookley, leads into open fields, said there were badgers living in nearby woodland but they had never done anything like that before.

"There has been talk of big cats going around over the years and I've no idea whether it could be one of them," she said, "I don't know what to do or what I can do."

She added: "If it's one of those big cats that has jumped over the wall I'd be scared because it could be a panther - but I don't think badgers attack humans so I'd rather it be a badger than a big cat or some other monster."

She said: "I've got two little grandchildren and I wouldn't like them to go out on their own."

Mrs Huntley's next door neighbour, Hilda Ward, whose front garden has also been "scratched" by a mystery creature, added: "In all the 20 years I've lived here there have always been badgers and they've never done anything like this so I can't imagine it's a badger.

"It was something with very strong feet, from the craters it has made."

Head warden at West Midland Safari Park, Bob Lawrence, tried to allay Mrs Huntley's fears, however, by telling the Shuttle/Times and News that he believed a badger would have been responsible for the damage.

After hearing a description of the damage caused to Mrs Huntley's garden, he said it was "extremely unlikely a big cat would dig up a lawn".

He said: "It was probably a badger looking for worms ... I'd tell Mrs Huntley not to lose too much sleep over it."