AN eagle surprised passers-by in the centre of Worcester by taking a leisurely stroll down Sansome Walk.

The big bird was seen by resident Jo Brookes close to Sansome Walk's junction with Little Fairfield Street on Monday afternoon.

She said: "It was standing in the road, and I knew it was not wild because it had leather jesses on its legs. At first I thought it must have been hit by a car and stunned, but it was alright.

"It was a really beautiful bird. Some people came out of an office with a box to catch it, to return it to its owner, but then it flew off, and that's how I know it wasn't stunned.

"I wonder if someone was using it to catch seagulls.

"The last I saw of it, it was perched on one of the buildings behind the old Gaumont."

A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said that it had been contacted about the bird, but it believed it had been returned to its owner.