A large alligator with a dead human body in its jaws was found roaming around an old people's home in Florida.

Lakeland Police department received a emergency 911 call from a resident of an assisted living community after someone spotted the reptile - estimated to be between eight and 10 feet long - with an adult man in its mouth.

Police officers sent to the scene later said the man had been dead for more than a day - but that is was unclear how he died, or if the alligator had killed him.

Sergeant Gary Gross from Lakeland Police told WLFA: "The officers got here and the alligator still had the person. He let the individual go, he is deceased, looks like this person may have been dead more than a day

"We don’t want to speculate but I will tell you that when the officer got here the alligator did a roll and had the person in contact with him.

"The officers immediately got their firearms out in case the gator comes up. Once he left they didn’t want him coming back and pull the body back out, that did not happen."

After the alligator released the body, police were able to pull the body from the water.

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Sgt Gross said Florida Fish and Wildlife Officers along with "gator trapper" Scott Barbon were searching the lake for the reptile predator.

He added: "The main thing now is if they trap the gator to try to figure out if they can do a test on that gator and see if there’s any human parts in that gator’s stomach."