'Soft' Derbyshire officers storm house to help cruel convict's gerbil

Derby City Police Safer Neighbourhood Team took the action on Sunday night after a cruel convict told RSPCA officers they couldn't go inside his house to see to the animal.

The team said in a Facebook post: "Our friends at the RSPCA informed us that an individual who was currently in prison, and had been for nearly a week now, had a gerbil at his home address.

"Sadly the individual was refusing to give access to their address so that the RSPCA officers could prevent the gerbil from dying or suffering unnecessarily.

"Our officers forced entry to the address with some help from the armed response unit and found the gerbil who was thankfully still alive but very hungry.

"The gerbil was taken to a nearby vet where it will be looked after by the RSPCA.

"We're not just about arresting bad guys and posing for photos on Facebook. Sometimes we're a bit soft and caring."