VILLAGERS fear that a poisoner is at work following a wave of cat deaths and disappearances.

Jo Cody, who lost her kitten and a replacement pet, said that around 20 cats have either vanished or died in the last three months from one street in Low Westwood, near Ebchester in County Durham.

Ms Cody, who lives in Ennerdale Terrace in Low Westwood, said: “It is a fairly long street but so many cats have disappeared or died.”

She said that a neighbour’s two cats returned home being sick, and had to be put down by vets.

Ms Cody said that it was believed that the cats had been poisoned by anti-freeze.

“Cats are attracted to the sweet taste of anti-freeze and do not know that it is poisonous,” she said.

“In summer it is unlikely that anti-freeze is left lying around and we think that somebody is poisoning the cats because they don’t like them in gardens.”