This is the terrifying moment a wildlife photographer came face to face with a polar bear. The huge predator wandered up to Tom Leeson's truck and placed its large paws on the passenger window to peer inside, pressing its face against his car window and baring its teeth. The moment was captured on camera by Tom, 60, who watched the scene in awe from the back seat of the pick-up truck. The encounter happened on Barter Island, in the Beaufort Sea off the north coast of Alaska. Tom says: "The window didn't seem thick enough and I thought that if the window broke my best bet would be to lie down behind the front seat or to grab my tripod and whack him on the nose with it."

Credit : Tom Leeson/BNPS.co.uk