Police are on the hunt for a loose emu after it was spotted by an off-duty officer.

The sharp-eyed officer called colleagues after the bird was sighted in the Whepstead area of Suffolk at around 7.15 this morning.

Police subsequently received a flurry of calls from members of the public describing the creature variously as an ostrich, a rhea and an emu.

A Suffolk Police spokesman said the search was continuing and urged people to get in touch with information on 101 if they saw the bird.