A relieved Sydenham woman has warned people to be wary after catching a man apparently trying to lure away her cats.

Suie Chapman had returned home from visiting a friend before encountering a man by her balcony minutes after sitting down.

The 28-year-old has three cats - one, called Joey, who is almost nine, and two sibling kittens Shadow and Jack.

She told News Shopper: “I sat on the sofa before realising the cats were acting weird. I got out to the balcony and saw a man there.

“I said 'what the f*** are you doing?' He started muttering under his breath and I told him to get away from the building.

“He casually walked back up the road after trying to grab my baby.”

Suie, who lives on the ground floor of a tower block near Perry Hill, said she spotted the man with his arm stretched inside the balcony trying to entice the cats forward.

“His intention was to remove my cats,” she said. “My oldest one was very protective of the two younger ones.”

She said the incident happened on Friday (June 29) at around 7.45pm.

Both the police and South Norwood Animal Rescue and Liberty (SNARL) were informed.

Suie added: “Cat kidnapping is on the increase and from what I gather they drug the cats for dog fighting.

“They use cats as bait to start a dog fight. They drug the cats so they have no defence mechanism.

“I’m very relieved nothing worse happened. The mother cat got hit by a car and fractured her pelvis recently and had to be put down.”

Boudicca Rising of SNARL said the incident was not linked with the Croydon Cat Killer investigation, which is looking into the mutilations of hundreds of animals.

She said: “London has a major dog fighting problem.

“Given everything we know about how the killer operates, and how organised he is, I would say it’s highly unlikely it’s linked.

“Our offender operates at night, during the dark and this guy tried to steal her cats in the early evening.

“He appeared to be a bit worse for wear which again doesn’t accord with someone who is managing to avoid leaving DNA or anything behind.”