People in Sheffield no longer need to be worried about an XL Bully which escaped after force marksmen opened fire on it last week, police have said.

Armed police attempted to shoot the dog on Thursday after it became "aggressive" while officers were investigating reports of a gun being fired at a property in Daniel Hill Street in Hillfoot.

Forensic testing of blood at the scene had since confirmed that the dog had been shot and injured in the incident, a South Yorkshire Police spokesperson confirmed.

The animal had not yet been found but it was "no longer an immediate risk to local residents", they said.

'No reported sightings'

Efforts to find the XL Bully were continuing, according to the force spokesperson.

However, following inquiries over the weekend, "we do now believe the immediate risk to our communities to be reduced", they said.

"We have received no reported sightings of the dog and now believe the risk to the public to be low."

Officers were still keen to hear from anyone with information about the dog's whereabouts, the spokesperson added.

Following the initial incident on Thursday, police had urged people not to approach the dog but to call 999 immediately.

They said at the time that the XL Bully had "the ability to show aggression and cause harm".

Shooting a dog was "never a decision taken lightly by our armed officers", police said.

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