‘Panther-sized’ large cat noticed roaming UK countryside sparking police name
A woman claims she was left stunned when she came across a panther-like beast walking across a stubble field at dusk in Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire Police confirmed they had received a report regarding the sighting
A stunned woman claims she has captured footage of the mythical ‘Beast of Rutland’ after spotting a big cat prowling across a field, causing her to dash indoors to fetch her phone.
Mel Barnes says she witnessed a panther-like creature stalking through a stubble field at twilight, claiming it was far bigger than any house cat she’d ever encountered.
The 55-year-old Quality Improvement Lead described the encounter in Deenethorpe village, Northamptonshire – approximately 10 miles south of Rutland and 30 miles from Leicester – as completely unprecedented.
Mel said: “It looked too big for a domestic cat.
Mel witnessed a panther-like animal padding across a stubble field(Image: Jam Press/Mel Barnes)
“I was so shocked by what I was seeing I had to run back in the house for my phone. It was 15 feet away from me.
“I probably won’t ever see this again.” She added: “You had to be there.
“I know what a domestic cat looks like and I wouldn’t have darted into the house to get my phone just for a moggy. I have never in my life seen what I suspect looked like a panther – and will probably never see one again.”
Video grab of the moment a panther-like cat pads across a stubble field at dusk(Image: Jam Press/Mel Barnes)
Northamptonshire Police have confirmed receiving a report about the sighting, reports Leicestershire Live. A spokesman for Northants Police said: “We received a report from a member of the public who believed they had seen a large cat in the Deenethorpe area.”
This sighting adds to a comprehensive catalogue of big cat encounters recorded across Northamptonshire and the adjacent county of Rutland spanning numerous years. Reports of large wild cats roaming the area have persisted for decades.
Back in 1996, a £500 bounty was put up for evidence “beyond doubt” that a black panther-like creature was prowling East Northamptonshire. In 2003, a bus driver allegedly encountered one of these mysterious felines near the A6116, close to the Aldwincle junction, while that very same year another driver witnessed a large black cat with amber eyes on the carriageway near Gretton.
The subsequent year, 2004, witnessed six separate encounters reported throughout the region within merely two weeks. Another big cat encounter was also logged in Wellingborough during 2008, and in 2012, a pair who were exercising their dog in Wakerley Woods allegedly stumbled upon a large feline they likened to a panther.
The observer remembered that the beast was approximately two or three times her dog’s size, looking dishevelled with golden eyes.
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