Police received a frightening call on Saturday from walkers after they reported an alarming sight - a big cat was on the loose in Kent.

It launched a huge operation with a police helicopter being scrambled to Mote Road in Ightham and armed officers frantically searching the area for the dangerous beast.

To their surprise and perhaps to their laughter, they were in fact confronted by a life size sculpture of a tiger.

Photos surfaced on social media showing exactly what walkers had seen in the woods.

It turned out to be the handiwork of 85-year-old Juliet Simpson - who found it all quite amusing.

But there have been a number of possible "real" big cat sightings across the county over the years...

Kingsnorth, May 2011

A couple spotted a black leopard running across a field in Kingsnorth, near Ashford.

Eugene and Karina Rivers saw the animal while walking their Welsh terrier puppy Jasmine off Cheesemans Green Lane at 9.30pm on May 29, 2011.

Mrs Rivers told KentOnline at the time: "When we got to the railway line, I saw in the distance what I thought was a dog.

"It came right across the horizon but we couldn't see an owner. This thing was travelling so fast I could hardly keep my eyes on it.

"It got to the opposite corner from us. It did the whole length of the field in less than 10 seconds.

"It ran differently from a dog, putting its front two legs forward first and then its back legs followed.

"Then I said, 'Oh my God, that’s not a dog’. We grabbed Jasmine and huddled in the bushes and just watched.”

She continued: “It was definitely a cat but it was huge and black and the way it moved was not the way a normal domestic animal moves.

"Then as quick as we had seen it, it got to the edge of the field and disappeared.

"I was quite shocked to be honest. We were both a bit unnerved by it."

Hampton, August 2017

A huge "wild" cat was spotted prowling near a popular children’s play park.

The large lynx-like animal was seen walking beside bushes by stunned onlookers in Hampton, near Herne Bay.

Maria Parkhouse said the size of the cat took her breath away, comparing it to “like something out of a movie”.

"I was driving along Hampton Pier Avenue when I saw a family pointing into some bushes," she said.

"I was intrigued so pulled over and saw a huge silver/grey cat with unusual markings and a distinctive face. It was so different to anything I have ever seen.

"The size of it took my breath away. There’s was something about the ferociousness of its face. It was like something out of a movie."

She quickly pulled over to try and snap the beast.

“I parked up to take a photo,” she said. "It was about 10 metres away from me at that point and looked gnarled, like it had been out in the wild. Its fur was matted. It was 60cm tall and a metre long with sharp features."

But the cat darted back into the bushes before she could take the picture, leaving her desperate to identify the animal.

"I got home and started Googling to see what it could be,” she said. “It looked like a cross between a bobcat and a lynx, but probably more the size of a bobcat.

"I am wondering if there have been any other sightings. I have never seen such a huge cat and wonder if there have been any pet attacks locally."

Canterbury, Maidstone and Sevenoaks, February 2016

A large animal, thought to be a 'black Leopard', was spotted near several Kent towns.

Three sightings of the animal, or animals, were reported on social media within 90 minutes of one another in February 2016.

One person, from Lower Hardres near Canterbury, saw the creature just 20 metres from their back garden after being alerted by their pet dog.

It was described as feline, larger than the agitated Weimaraner, and longer than a deer.

Reports of a similar creature were posted by people living near Sevenoaks and Maidstone.

Kemsley, November 2010

A motorist and two security guards spotted two separate sightings of two big cats 10 days apart in Kemsley.

The security workers were sitting in their hut close to Kemsley railway line at about 5am on November 13, 2010, when one of their spotlights revealed two bright green eyes staring at them from the undergrowth.

Unnerved by the sighting the men stepped outside and saw what they described as a "big black animal, the size of a dog" - which turned and walked off.

Armed with torches, both men searched the surrounding vegetation but to no avail.

Their sighting came a week after a motorist claimed to have seen a large cat which he described as being fox-sized with leopard markings in Newman Drive.

The man said it ran across the road five metres ahead and over the bridge that crosses the Kemsley drain.

Maidstone area, June 2004

A mysterious big cat was seen several times in Maidstone back in 2004.

The animal, described as black and the size of a large labrador dog, was seen by the woman as she was driving in Summerhill Road, Headcorn, near Maidstone, early one morning.

She said she saw the animal emerge from a hedge about 50 yards in front of her, cross the road and disappear into the hedge on the other side of the road.

The same week she saw the animal again, while she was driving along the same road at 7pm.

It emerged from the side of the road and crossed the road again, disappearing into the hedge on the other side.

On both occasions, the animal was at the same spot in the road and crossed from the same side to the other each time. She described it as as big as a labrador.

Several sightings of a black panther-like cat in fields between Marden and Staplehurst and near Headcorn were reported during the previous few months before the sighting.

An electrician working in Marden said he saw the animal and a commuter also saw it - which he described as black, slightly larger than a labrador dog and with a long, curly tail, close to the railway line just outside Headcorn.

A woman and her son saw a similar creature as they walked across fields, near Headcorn, in the middle of the morning.

In the same month, a Sissinghurst couple also claim to have seen the animal heading towards the Headcorn area as they drove home along the A262 from Biddenden.

There have been other sightings of a large black cat at Barming, near Maidstone, Aylesford, and Bredgar, near Sittingbourne.

Isle of Sheppey, August 2011

A "large and muscular" big cat was spotted at Minster Park in The Broadway, Sheppey.

Neil Arnold, of Kent Big Cat Research, reported the sighting after it was posted on his website.

The witness, named as Mrs Smith, saw the large black cat, which she said looked like a jaguar, at about 5pm while looking out of her caravan window.

She said it was casually strolling across the field and, when she mentioned it to the security guards at the park, they said they had seen it before.

It is thought the cat was seen roaming around a storage yard.

Mr Arnold, who has been studying big cats for several years, said it would not be a jaguar.

He said at the time: "For almost a decade there have been sightings from the Island, suggesting at least one large cat - a black leopard - is roaming the area.

“Minster seems an area where the cat seems comfortable although it could use all the Island.

“There is a lot of marsh and at night such an animal would almost be invisible as it is extremely stealthy."

Thanet, 2008

A pair of wild black leopards were feared to be on the loose around Thanet.

Five sightings from motorists and dog walkers described both a thick set black cat the size of a springer spaniel and another, taller, sleeker beast, the size of a German shepherd dog, on the prowl.

In one incident, the larger leopard was seen one evening in Northdown Park, Cliftonville, by a woman walking her two small dogs.

The dogs chased after it but froze in terror when the animal turned around and hissed at them. It then started walking towards the terrified woman who ran off with her pets, and she reported the matter to a passing police patrol.

Neil Arnold, of Kent Big Cat Research, has logged all five of the Thanet sightings. He said the larger of the leopards, also known as panthers, was most likely to be male and the smaller and slinkier one, female.

In another sighting, a man living in Nasmyth Road, Birchington, came home at 2am and having gone to bed, his car alarm sounded for no apparent reason.

It went off a second time and when he returned to the vehicle to reset it, he was confronted by the sight of a "thick set, black animal, the size of a springer spaniel, whose eyes were reflecting green in the street light" only seven feet away from him.

It ran off towards the village and it is thought the leopard was sheltering under the still warm car.

A Mr Cobbe, from Cliftonville, reported sighting a cat the size of a large dog while looking out of his upstairs window in The Ridings at about 5am one Saturday. It seemed to be stalking prey but slipped into the undergrowth after 20 seconds.

What sounds like the same creature was seen a day later by flats in the grounds of QEQM Hospital in Margate by a member of staff as she arrived to start her 6am early morning shift.

She described the leopard as sitting on its haunches, but could not stay longer to watch as she had to start work.

Another sighting was by a friend of Mr Arnold’s as she was driving between Ramsgate and Sandwich. She described a yellow or green-eyed big black cat crossing the main road and disappearing into the undergrowth.

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