Big cat seen near Barton

The Sheppard family from Totternhoe are going on a photographic safari in a bid to capture the cat, believed to be a black panther, on camera which they claim is living close to their home.

Our latest caller is Patrick Tufft, from Lewsey Farm, Luton, who says that he and fellow drivers stopped to watch when they spotted the animal chasing rabbits in a field just outside Barton in November.

“I was on my way back from work, and on the Higham Gobion Road, A couple of cars had stopped and I thought that there had been an accident. I got out and saw that everyone was watching this big black animal chasing rabbits around a field, then it crossed the road right in front of us.

“No-one took a picture of it as we were all too stunned. We just stood there. It went at a terrific speed.”

Over the past few weeks readers have reported seeing a dark brown cougar in the Heath and Reach area, near Leighton Buzzard, and a possible black panther sighting in Stanbridge, Tilsworth and Totternhoe.