A wild leopard sparked panic when it entered a family's bedroom - then escaped despite wildlife teams trying to catch it for six hours.

The big cat rampaged through the village and into the house of retired teacher Shashi Prabha near Jagjivan college in Dehri, India, on January 30.

Police and wildlife and forest department officials arrived when they were informed about the predator terrorising the residents.

Resident N. Pandey said: 'We were staying inside the houses due to cold weather. Suddenly, we heard about a leopard roaming in the locality. When we opened the door to go and out and find out more, the leopard entered the house of Shashi Prabha.

'The family members managed to lock the wild cat in one room and informed the local administration.'

An official from the Wildlife Department's Rohtas zone said that Dehri has dense forests around it and it seems that the wild cat came out in search of food and water.

The forest department launched an operation to tranquilise and capture the leopard. However, they were unable to catch it even after six hours.

The leopard was able to run away through an open window in the bedroom's toilet.

Abhay Kumar, range officer of the forest department, has appealed to locals to stay in their homes and watch their children while the leopard was still on the loose.

The forest department said it has launched operations to nab the large wild cat as soon as possible.

The development of homes in and around forests has lead to an increase in the number of leopard sightings in recent years.