Large Cat dubbed 'Beast of Bretton' spotted again

Published Date: 07 June 2008 By Tara Dundon IT is said to be 4ft long, 3ft high with a 2ft tail and a black shiny coat, and it has made a hair-raising return to the city. Big cat sightings are nothing new to people across the city these days but the so-called "Beast of Bretton" appears to have set up a new home in the south of Peterborough.

And while it is normally spotted lurking in bushes and the undergrowth of the city's most popular beauty spots – including Orton Mere and Ferry Meadows – the puma-like creature also seems to be making the most of his nine lives with reports of him running across busy roads around the city.

Michelle Esposito contacted The Evening Telegraph on Monday after spotting what she thinks was a large beast-like animal, which she said appeared to be the size of a dog, sprinting across the road between Hampton and Yaxley.

She said: "It was dark in colour, and was the shape of a large cat.

"It was cat-like in the way it was running and we wondered whether there was a large cat, such as a puma, living in Peterborough."

Mark Williams, from Bretton, has been studying big cat sightings throughout the UK for the past two years.

He said: "I can fully understand why some readers may think them fantasy.

"There are, however, sufficient positive sightings, by police officers, for example, to suggest that not all of them are mistaken identity."