A predator which has been known to attack humans is at large in Steeton.

A rare eagle owl — which can stand up to two feet high and has a wingspan of over one metre — has been spotted in Clough Avenue, where one man saw it swoop on a feeding crow and carry it away in its one-and-a-half-inch claws.

Dean Woolley, of Halsteads Way, said: “The first time I saw it was three weeks ago when I was taking my dog for a walk. I saw all these crows going absolutely crazy and then I realised they were dive bombing the eagle owl because it had taken a crow.”

Eagle owls have become increasingly popular in the wild in the UK over the last few years and, despite evidence suggesting that they were present in England 10,000 years ago, they are not considered a British bird.

More likely, explains owner of Yorkshire Dales Falconry and Conservation Centre Douglas Petrie, they have escaped from captivity and are now breeding in the wild.

He said: “They are beautiful birds and they have had a bad press in the past but humans have nothing to fear from them as long as they don’t go near their nests.

“They have been known to go for cats and small dogs but they mainly eat hedgehogs and rabbits. “There has been a couple breeding in the Forest of Bowland, in Lancashire, for the last ten years and the offspring have to go somewhere.”