A terrified father was left red-faced after pulling over his car to cautiously help what he thought was a leopard lying injured in the road – only to discover it was ‘some tart’s coat’.
Ben Lilly was driving along the A646 near Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, on Saturday morning when he noticed the spotty shape sprawled across on the tarmac.
The IT consultant spun his car round and headed back in the same direction – eager to catch a glimpse of the terrifying animal up close.
Ben Lilly had been heading down the A646 near Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, on Saturday morning when he noticed the spotty shape sprawled across on the tarmac
Father of two Ben Lilly, pictured, thought he had spotted an injured leopard while driving through West Yorkshire and decided to investigate further.
Mr Lilly ‘cautiously’ got out of the vehicle and approached the suspected big cat with his ‘heart racing’, admitting that he was worried if he got too close he might have his face ‘ripped off’.
But the 40-year-old father-of-two was embarrassed to discover the fearsome feline was just an abandoned onesie complete with tail – left by weekend party-goers.
Admitting his ‘silly’ mistake on Facebook, Mr Lilly wrote: ‘Careful! Dead leopard in the road on way to Halifax! Oh no, it’s some tart’s coat from last night, can’t believe I turned back for this!’
Mr Lilly, from Halifax, West Yorkshire, said: ‘My heart was racing with a kind of excitement.
‘I thought ‘is this a big cat?’ It would be an amazing thing to find.
‘I saw something in the distance as I was coming round the bend and slowed down, giving it a wide berth in case it was an injured animal.
‘As I passed it, I looked out the passenger’s window and saw the markings on it.
‘It had the tail bit on it too, so it looked really real while I was driving.
Mr Lilly soon realised his mistake and took several photographs of the ‘leopard’ to share with his friends online
