Is a puma on the loose in Bearsted?

One family believes it could be, after a large animal was spotted sitting on its haunches and cleaning itself at Tower Hill, off Yeoman Lane, at about 8.45am on Saturday, June 27.

It was seen by Pamela Clarke, who was visiting friends in the village and happened to see the creature when she looked out of a window.

She said it was a fawn colour and had a tail that was almost as long as its body. When a car came along the road the animal was disturbed and leapt into the undergrowth at the roadside.

She said: "It was the size of a labrador, clearly a puma and it was licking its paws before the car came."

Big cat expert Neil Arnold, from Wateringbury, said most sightings in the area seem to be of black leopards but said there is a long history of puma sightings.

Reports date back to the 1500s, he claimed, while in 2003 a puma-like animal was filmed in East Malling.

Have you spotted a big cat? Let us know at messengernews@thekmgroup.co.uk