Before their deaths the cats appeared drunk, groggy, lethargic and excessively thirsty. They also excessively vomited and urinated.

The mysterious deaths of 22 cats in the English town of Calverton in Nottinghamshire will be raised in the UK Parliament today as villagers suspect they are being targeted by a resident.

The pets are believed to have been poisoned with anti-freeze as they all displayed corresponding symptoms.

Before their deaths the cats appeared drunk, groggy, lethargic and excessively thirsty. They also excessively vomited and urinated.

The experience has been particularly difficult for children,who watched their pets dying within hours of being poisoned.

“Someone is using anti-freeze to poison cats deliberately. We can’t prove it because we haven’t had a post mortem, but all the vets seem to think it is poisoning by anti-freeze. All the symptoms point to that,” said Mark Spencer, Conservative MP.

Ethylene glycol, an ingredient in anti-freeze, causes kidney failure in cats. The deaths began in August and may also put other wild animals and pets at risk.

Speaking to BBC, local resident Nick Lawlor said: “They’ve got to pay for what they’ve done. You can’t kill kids’ pets. Her eyes were rolling around her head, she was fitting. She passed away within a couple of hours.”

Online Editors