Stephanie Kirsop thought her 12-year-old son Lionel Saunders and his friends were joking when he called her to report seeing a crocodile in the creek near their home

A family had a lucky escape when a mum dismissed her son's claims there was a crocodile near their home.

Stephanie Kirsop thought Lionel Saunders was joking when he called her to say he'd spotted a reptile. However, the mother went to the creek near her home and was amazed at the sight of a crocodile lurking in the water.

Experts say the species of croc is capable of inflicting serious injury. Stephanie considers the encounter a narrow escape as her children and their pals often swim in the creek in Newcastle, a coastal city in New South Wales in Australia.

Recalling the encounter, the mum said: "There is a little crocodile just swimming around in the creek where local kids go to fish and sometimes kids swim in there. Wow."

But Stephanie was skeptical of 12-year-old Lionel at first, insisting she felt she was being tricked. She added: "My son took videos because he was trying to convince me it was real and I didn’t believe him. It did look like a crocodile but I was like, 'no it’s a log'.

"He rang me back a little bit later and he’s like: 'I’m so serious mom. You have to come down here and have a look.' The whole drive down there I’m thinking this is going to be a trick. They’re going to laugh at me."

The little Australian freshwater crocodile, which measured 39-inch-long, was eventually caught two miles from where it was spotted. Authorities, though, struggled to believe Stephanie and her son when they first reportted the reptile because they often get false calls in the area.

Billy Collett, manager of the Australian Reptile Park, even suspected the images he was sent might have been artificial intelligence-generated fakes. He said: "I was a bit suspicious because we get a lot of phone calls. These days with AI, it’s just so crazy... They’re capable of inflicting a serious injury."

The croc is healthy and will stay at Australian Reptile Park until authorities decide where it should go permanently. Mr Collett continued: "I just wanted to get him out of there because he would’ve perished in winter."

Crocs are protected under Australian law. The expert believes the reptile was a pet which had been released into the wild after growing too big for a fish tank or too dangerous.

Mr Collett added: "I just wanted to get him out of there because he would’ve perished in winter." It is currently autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.