
A game of cat and mouse has been captured in a series of striking images as the pair battle it out on a shed rooftop like a real life version of much-loved cartoon duo Tom and Jerry.

It is an age-old rivalry that rarely ends well for one of its parties and so it proved in this remarkable set of photos.

The snaps of a cat playing with a mouse on a roof in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, illustrate the perils the tiny rodents face in the town.

Ironically the pet cat's name is Mouse. Unfortunately for this mouse that's where all similarities between the moggy and its namesakes end.

The pictures were taken by the cat's owner Jason Bryant who confirmed the inevitable outcome of the encounter.

'My cat is a very good mouser,' he said. 'She's done it before. She often brings them into the house at 3am and then I can rescue them. But she took this poor little thing on to the shed roof where I couldn't reach it.'

Ready to pounce: The mouse flies through the air as its feline nemesis looks to bring it back down to earth with a bang

Eeek: A mouse tries to escape the clutches of a pet cat named Mouse as the pair engage in the age-old game of cat and mouse

In flight: The mouse, unable to evade its moggy hunter, is thrown into the air on the roof of a shed in Shepton Mallet in Somerset

Somersaulting away: The snaps illustrate the perils that tiny rodents face in the town with cats like Mouse around

Cartoon characters: The pair battle it out on a rooftop like a real life version of much-loved cartoon duo Tom and Jerry

Let's play: The pictures were taken by the cat's owner Jason Bryant who confirmed the inevitable outcome of the encounter