Beware the... pussycat! Postmen boycott house because they are scared of 19-year-old pet 'Tiger'



Postmen are refusing to deliver letters to a house because they are terrified of one of the residents - an elderly cat.

Ageing Tiger, who bears a striking resemblance to Postman Pat's pet, is terrorising delivery men in Leeds to such an extent that they are now refusing to go anywhere near his cat flap



Royal Mail say the 19-year-old black and white cat, who spends most of his day napping, has attacked three postmen in the past few weeks.



Terrifying for posties: 19-year-old Tiger is fond of leaping through the catflap and chasing postmen down the garden path

Owner Tracy Brayshaw, of Farsley, Leeds, said the postmen have complained that Tiger stalks his cat flap waiting for them to deliver letters and is ready to pounce and chase them down the garden path.



Mrs Brayshaw, 43, branded the move 'ridiculous' and said she now has to trek to her local sorting office for her post because Tiger is deemed a health and safety risk.



She said: 'If Tiger climbs up a tree, he is done in for the rest of the week. I find it really hard to believe.



'The post has been suspended for two weeks now. It was funny at first but it is going a bit far now.



'This is an old age cat who gets dressed up as Santa each year - he wouldn't have the energy to attack postmen.'

Terrifying Tiger: The 19-year-old cat has been accused of attacking the local postmen

The pharmacy dispenser added: 'I do think they have been a bit unfair, they have taken health and safety too far - we don't have a lion or a Rottweiler, this is a 19-year-old cat.



'We've had him since he was a kitten when he wandered in off the street. He has never done anything like what they say he has done before.'

She added that, according to a letter from the Royal Mail, the neutered tomcat has attacked three different postmen on three different occasions, including chasing one down the garden path.



'When I went to the post office to collect my mail, the person behind the counter told me that Tiger had lacerated a postman's arm but when I asked to see pictures of the wound they didn't have any,' she said.



'They said he jumped up and slashed the postie's arm through his jacket.



'I think this incident and the postman being chased down the path are meant to have happened quite recently and the third incident, of a postie getting his legs scratched, is meant to have happened last summer.



'Tiger's back end is going as well, he has no more spring in his hocks - so I can't see how he could have jumped at a postie. Our vet is amazed he is still alive.'



Mrs Brayshaw is hoping to appeal against the decision to suspend her post.



A spokeswoman from Royal Mail said: 'We are sorry for the inconvenience to Mrs Brayshaw and we want to resume delivery of mail to her address as quickly as possible.



'We're trying to agree a way to do this and avoid our employees suffering further nasty injuries, as has happened three times already.'