POLICE responding to an intruder alarm at a Tesco store in Cornwall went to the scene and discovered… a cat.

And it turns out this “cat burglar” is quite a local celebrity.

Police in St Austell reported that Dylan the Cat has felt “the long paw of the law”.

In a post on Facebook, the police said: “Police were called to the Tesco at Pentewan Road Retail Park following an intruder alarm being activated.

“On arrival, they swiftly located the culprit red pawed (handed) in the act. Dylan as he is locally known (apparently he is a bit of a celebrity on the retail park) was released by the keyholder.

“He was given suitable advice by police officers in attendance to not allow himself to be locked inside the store again in the future...”

The post has had a big response with hundreds of reactions and shares.

Dylan, who has his own Facebook account – DylanTheCat – was one of those commenting in response.

He said: “Thanks for getting me out. I was famished after not eating for two hours.”

The comments on the post also reveal that Dylan was once banned from the local Costa Coffee outlet after a complaint.

However, Dylan, in another comment said: “Ban only lasted a week. Got more chance of banning coffee than me.”

A comment about Dylan said: “He's such a lovely cat. We stop and say hello to him whenever we see him. I remember Costa was trying to close one afternoon and one of the staff put him outside... Well, he waltzed straight back in there to return to his perch. It was a battle of wills for a while but incredibly entertaining to watch.”

Other comments included: “Love Dylan, he’s a legend… That’s what you call a lovely cat burglar… Oh Dylan, what will you get up to next?!”