By Hayley Robinson

Could this picture prove that the beast of Bredgar really exists?

The photo was taken by a resident in the village who spotted the large paw prints in the snow on his driveway on December 20.

To illustrate the size of it he placed his size nine foot next to the imprint and forwarded it on to Big Cat Researcher Neil Arnold.

Mr Arnold says he is fairly certain it was made by a big cat.

He said: "A majority of such prints turn out to be dogs, but I believe 70 per cent that this print belongs to a cat.

"Unfortunately, the main pad is distorted at the rear by a rabbit track running through it but the print appears asymmetrical, unlike a dog which is very symmetrical and would show clear claw marks. The witness claimed he’d seen similar prints last February during snow, and took photos of those also but despite their clear size they are lacking definition.

"The man lives in an isolated spot and the prints had come from woodland, crossed the road and gone up the driveway.

"The most bizarre aspect was that one of the prints was on the rear windscreen of his car, suggesting that a very large animal had bounded across his vehicle in the night but he didn’t get a picture of these."

On the same day at about 3pm a couple claimed to have seen a large Labrador sized cat which was beige in colour with a thick long tail behind the Cross and Wells fruit packaging factory at Milton Creek, Saxon Shore Way on the Eurolink Estate.

The couple, who spotted the big cat as they were walking their dogs, claim the creature sprang into the air causing a pheasant to take off. The animal then walked along the bank and sprung in to the air once more before disappearing in the undergrowth out of sight.

According to Mr Arnold, over the last year there have been several sightings of both a puma and black leopard around Sittingbourne.

Mr Arnold said: "Big cats were kept as pets in the 1960s but then in 1976 the Dangerous Animals’ Act was introduced - people panicked and let them loose.

"Travelling zoos were also very popular many years ago. They used to have lynxes and pumas and if one escaped they weren’t likely to report it."