A head chef at a luxury hotel beat a kitten to death when it accidentally got into the kitchen, a court heard.

Dylan Edwards, 50, admitted causing unnecessary suffering to the feral cat which was allegedly put in a bag and hit with a piece of wood.

The incident happened last December at the popular Royal Oak Hotel in Snowdonia, Tudur Owen, for the RSPCA, said.

Hotel management claimed initially the cat, named Cali by a neighbour who said she cared for the animal, was "humanely euthanised" to protect the "health and well-being of others."

But the death sparked a furious social media backlash which included an online petition that attracted 100,000 signatures and the hotel was forced to backtrack.