The house is currently under siege. Seems there was a cat trapped in the bin cupboard (trash or refuse area) outside the house. And now it’s out and it’s pretty angry, or maybe distressed. No-one really wants to get too close to it to find out for sure.
What are you supposed to do in these situations? The RSPCA web site isn’t terribly helpful, so I gave them a call and they more-or-less said “forget it, but call us if you think it’s really really hurt”. So, my plan is to forget about it.