A DEAD cat found killed by a Royal Wootton Bassett roadside prompted a social media appeal from police.

Officers from the Wiltshire town said they had come across the animal's body in the road near the High Street / Marlowe Way junction in the early hours on Monday morning.

The cat was said to have been a brown and grey colouring and believed to have been an adult. It was wearing a blue flock collar, but was not microchip and its collar did not have a tag.

Police did not reveal the animal's sex.

In their initial post on social media website Facebook, Royal Wootton Bassett & Cricklade Police posted: "We will keep them safe until the morning when, if we have no news, we will take them to a local vet."

Later that morning, officers once again took to social media to confirm that the dead cat had been taken to Thameswood Veterinary Clinic, Station Road, Royal Wootton Bassett.

"The vets will hold the cat for a week for it to be claimed," they posted.