'Crocodile' In Cannock

[filcee]

(Mods, feel free to move this to Crypto...can't spell the rest)

Cannock, Staffordshire, seems to have had a spate of sightings of a 'crocodile' in a local lake.

Local paper, Express and Star

Mystery as 'croc' spotted at pool
By Faye Casey
Jun 16, 2003, 14:13:00

A Staffordshire community was today trying to unravel a pool monster mystery after reported sightings of a 7ft "crocodile" type creature rising from the deep.

Police officers, RSPCA inspectors and an alligator expert from Walsall were called to the pool in Roman View, Churchbridge, Cannock, on Saturday afternoon when reports of the sighting were first made...

The BBC give it a mention (scroll to bottom)

Ananova and Yahoo / anorak generally take the mick.

 

[SoundDust]

they mention that scientists think it's a carp here

An RSPCA spokeswoman told BBC News Online they had not received any more calls since the sighting was reported on Friday.

She said the animal was more likely to have been a big fish in a small pond.

"Large carp can look to the untrained eye to be some kind of weird creature."

She said: "We're treating it as an instance of someone not having seen what they thought they saw."

She added that if the animal was a crocodile or alligator, its presence in Staffordshire could probably only be explained by the creature escaping from a zoo or private collection.

"Cannock is not the Florida Everglades so it is hard to imagine an alligator surviving for long in the heat and light you get in this country," she said.