'Big cat' sighting near the Manchester Ship Canal in Warrington

In recent months there has been a spate of sightings of "big cats" in North Wales as well as an increasing number over the border in Cheshire.

In one of the latest encounters, William Allsop, of Latchford in Warrington, claims to have seen a panther from his kitchen window.

He says that, at about 11am on Saturday, February 13, he spotted the mysterious creature walking on the old railway embankment which runs along the Manchester Ship Canal.

In a report to Puma Watch North Wales, a group set up to document and investigate such sightings, he said the creature was far too big to be a dog and had a long tail more akin to a cat.

Williams said: “I was at the kitchen sink and looked out of the window and noticed a creature walking on the railway line, in the first first instance I thought it was a large dog so I looked out for the owner, no owner appeared.

“Then the animal proceeded to walk down the embankment, then disappeared behind the trees.

“As it came closer you could clearly see it was too large for a dog, also its tail was too long and more like a cats tail.”

There have been several reported sightings of big cats in Cheshire recently, however there are reports dating back decades.

In February, a big cat was spotted in a park in Ellesmere Port.

There have also been several sightings of a cat-like creature on Chester Meadows.

In December, Chester delivery rider Richard Evans photographed a mystery creature while returning from making a McDonald's delivery.

And, in January, a witness reported seeing a “large but slender” black big cat “with a long tail that it carried quite high” at Ince Marshes, close to Ellesmere Port’s Stanlow oil refinery.

'Big cat' sighting in Chester by Richard Evans. Image: Richard Evans/Puma Watch North Wales

Puma Watch founder Tony Jones said their is increasing evidence of small populations of big cats in the UK, adding that he now receives reports from Cheshire, Shropshire, and Yorkshire as well as North Wales.

He said: "Big cats such as pumas are solitary with a hunting range of dozens of miles. They’re mostly spotted in Snowdonia and the Clwydian hills but reports of sightings in urban locations some distance from these areas are becoming more frequent."

Paw print found at Ince Marshes near Ellesmere Port

Tony added: "As seen with Llandundo’s now-famous goats, who have taken to roaming the town’s deserted streets during the coronavirus lockdowns, it’s likely that the reduced levels of human activity over the last year is encouraging big cats to roam further from the hills into more populated areas.

"When big cats were banned as pets in the 1970s, it was legal to release them into the countryside to avoid expensive rehoming costs. Owners from across the UK travelled to areas like Wales to release their cats in the remote environment, where small but significant populations have thrived ever since."

In Wales, politicians have called for the reports to be investigated after a spate of sightings.

The sightings in North Wales during 2020 and 2021 have been attributed to the "Puma of Pontybodkin" by the national media.

In November, Toby Matthews, a hypnotherapist living in Caergwrle, captured a mystery creature that was the "shape of a big cat" on video while walking his dog in the Wood Pit Nature Reserve between Pontybodkin and Llanfynydd in Flintshire.

There have been several similar "big cat" encounters in nearby Corwen, Talacre, Whitford, and Pentre Halkyn.

However, some have been found to have reasonable explanations. A 'big cat' filmed prowling in a field in Trelogan, Flintshire, turned out to be a 6kg domestic cat called Sheldon.

Darren Millar, MS for Clwyd West, said the issue is becoming "a real worry"

Clwyd West MS Darren Millar raised the issue during a virtual meeting of the Senedd last month.

And, due to the spate of sightings in his constituency, MP for Delyn Rob Roberts wrote to the Welsh Government's Environment Minister Lesley Griffiths.

She replied that reports received by the Welsh Government are treated seriously and are investigated.

She said: “The Welsh Government’s policy is to investigate any reports received by the Department for Economy, Skills and Natural Resources of alleged sightings and attacks by big cats on livestock in Wales.”