Police have stepped up investigations into claims a serial cat killer is targeting pets across Croydon after more mutilated bodies were found.

Seven cats have been found with similar gruesome injuries, prompting warnings from an animal rescue shelter and fears the killer could even target people.

All of the cats - found in Addiscombe, South Norwood, Coulsdon and West Norwood between September and December - were missing their tails and some had been decapitated.

The Croydon Guardian first revealed fears a sick killer was preying on cats in October and the growing body count has since attracted national media attention, including in The Independent, The Sun and on the BBC.

South Norwood Animal Rescue and Liberty (SNARL) has received anecdotal reports that more than 30 felines have been killed in total over the last two years.

The most recent, nine-year-old Missy, was found dismembered in a hedge near her distraught family's home in Coulsdon on Monday, December 7.

David Emmerson, 43, the father of the family, said: "Whoever is behind this needs to be brought to justice before they can do this to another family’s pet - or even to a person."

Nick Jerome, 52, whose eight-year-old cat Oscar was found decapitated near his home in West Norwood on November 20, said the discovery was "utterly horrifying and devastating".

SNARL has raised nearly £3,000 to pay for tests of DNA found on some of the mutilated cats. The findings will be analysed by police in the hope of identifying the killer.

The shelter's founder, Boudicca Rising, 44, said she believed the cats had been killed with a sharp blade like a machete.

She added: "He has a very distinctive way of killing them, a very distinctive way of making the cuts. It makes me feel sick to my stomach."

The Metropolitan Police and Surrey Police are both investigating.

Sergeant Ross Spanton, of Surrey Police, described Missy's death as a "disgusting and horrifying incident which has understandably left the family extremely distressed".

He added: "I would like to reassure the local community that active enquiries are underway to identify those responsible and I would urge anyone with any information to contact police."

An RSPCA spokeswoman said: "We will be surveying any evidence we are given to see if there is deliberate cruelty involved here.

"Thankfully acts of deliberate violence against dead cats are rare and thorough research has shown that these kind of injuries can be caused by wildlife after death."