A WOMAN has called police to report she had seen a panther in Malvern.

The woman told the town's police officers yesterday (Thursday) she thought she had seen the animal claiming it was "Bigger than a dog, eating something fluffy!"

It is not the first time panthers have been reportedly spotted in the area.

In 2009, Karen Allison, Big Cats in Britain’s area representative, said the most common area to see big cats in Worcestershire was on the Malvern Hills, especially near Little Welland.

“There’s probably more than one up on the hills,” she said.

Last August, Andy Richards, of Cheshire, who was camping at the time outside The Marlbank Inn at Welland, which overlooks the Malverns also thought he spotted a "big feline predator".

Mr Richards said: "My son looked over the field and said there was a black Labrador in a field about 200m away from where we were sat."

Mr Richards, who is a dog lover, was concerned about the apparent stray but he believed it was more more likely to be an Alsation, because of its pointy ears. He went to investigate.

He said: "We went to the field. I stood on the gate and and looked up the field to see a massive black cat with yellow eyes looking right at me. It was the size of an Alsation and about 75m away from me and looking right at me, in sitting down position.

"Needless to say we legged it. Later I told my wife who laughed at me. But she went onto the net and found out that I was not the only one to see a big black cat in Welland."