Big cat sightings 'spotted' across Worcestershire

Whether they are urban legends, large domestic cats or people have genuinely seen a panther - we will never know.

Whatever the truth, big cat sightings have continued to intrigue people across Worcestershire.

Here are a few of the sightings from the archives - are these big cats still out there?

Powick - 2019

Sally Williams and her son, Steve, spotted what they thought to be a puma in the grounds of St Peter’s C of E Church, in Powick.

Steve even captured a video of the large cat roaming around the churchyard.

He added: “I was a little unnerved by it, and just a bit shocked. My mum was a bit scared.”

Could it still be stalking around Powick?

Earl's Croome - 2016

This was a story backed up by an expert after a sighting of a big cat was followed by reports of deer being eaten by a suspected big cat.

Robert Ingram, wife Nicola and a friend, had been driving through back lanes near Croome Court at around 1am in March 2016 when they saw a "gigantic, muscular beast" rising as high as their car window.

Several mangled dear corpses were then discovered in Earl's Croome which Rick Minter, author of 'Big Cats: Facing Britain's Wild Predators', said showed several of the hallmarks of a big cat having eaten the carcass.

He believed it was a melanistic (dark-coloured) leopard, the official name for one form of what is popularly known as the 'black panther'.

Welland - 2015

Andy Richards and his son were camping outside The Marlbank Inn at Welland when they saw what they claimed to be a big cat.

At first they believed it to be a black Labrador but said as they got closer they realised there was a "massive black cat with yellow eyes" staring at them.

"We just legged it but I so wish I had taken a photo of it," Andy said.

Welland is definitely a popular area to see big cats.

In 2009, Karen Allison of the group Big Cats in Britain said: "The most common area to see big cats in Worcestershire was on the Malvern Hills, especially near Little Welland."

Bromsgrove - 2017

A pensioner claimed to have spotted a black panther while walking home from the shops in Bromsgrove in 2017.

David Wherton, 68, said he stumbled upon a “muscular” cat-like creature walking down a dried up stream bed between Royal Worcester Crescent and Penshurst Road, in Bromsgrove.

“It was definitely a black panther. I know what I saw."

Droitwich - 2003

There was not one but two sightings of a big black cat in Droitwich in 2003.

In 2003, Stan Petrovic of Winslow Avenue, Droitwich was walking his dog in Hadzor Road when he spotted a large black creature.

In the same week, Neil Martin of The Ridings claimed to have spotted a mysterious black cat lurking around near Hanbury.

Hallow - 2001

A panther-like creature was spotted leaping a seven-foot fence in Hallow by Rob Rosewarne.

In 2001, he claimed he saw the "big, black cat" roaming in a field near Top Barn, Hallow, as he made his way to work from Kidderminster by bus.

"It was a complete shock to see what looked like a big, black cat clear a fence that high.

"It looked like a panther."

During a three year span, there were a number of big cat sightings which earned the illusive animal the moniker "Black Beast of Worcestershire".