BIG cat sightings have now been reported at fresh locations, including a 'panther' at one spot just outside Worcester.

People in the Evesham and Villages Big Cat Group on Facebook continue to supply information about fresh sightings of possible big cats in Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire - and wildlife experts are keeping an open mind.

One member of the group which now has 1,200 members said: "I last saw one last October just outside Cleeve Prior. It was crossing the road in front of me in the early hours of the morning. The tail was unmistakable."

She also said she had seen others in the early 2000s in Norton and in Coddington near Ledbury three years ago. Another member has described a 'black panther' about a mile from Stratford. 

A spokesperson for Worcestershire Wildlife Trust said: "Whilst native wild cats or lynx haven’t been seen in Worcestershire for several hundred years, it’s interesting to see potential sightings of big cats across the county. As yet, however, there has been no confirmed evidence of their presence – whether that be pawprints, prey carcasses or photographs."

Recent sightings both took place on Saturday, October 5, many miles apart at Woodmancote, near Defford, and at Eastham between Great Witley and Tenbury Wells.

The sighting at Eastham was so sudden and surprising, the driver said it caused him to swerve the car slightly in shock.

With DNA evidence of a big cat in Cumbria, found on a kill, and closer to home in neighbouring Gloucestershire, people living in Worcestershire continue to report more sightings.

However, the elusive proof which would prove beyond doubt the powerful predators are prowling closer to home has yet to emerge. 

Strands of hair belonging to a leopard species Panthera Pardus have already been found on a barbed wire fence at a farm in neighbouring Gloucestershire following an attack on a sheep in 2022.

A witness said: "I saw two big cats in Woodmancote near Defford crossing the road last night opposite Copeland Court Farm.

"They were definitely big type cats. I stopped my van but they ran off into fields before I could get photos. I probably couldn't have got a decent shot because it was dark. 

"I'd say they was about the size of a big dog." 

Meanwhile, a further sighting has been described in Eastham which is out towards Tenbury Wells, also on Saturday, October 5  at 7.48pm.

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The shocking sightings of large leopard-like cats have been reported as recently as this year in Harvington, near Evesham and others date back 20 years.

Possible sightings have now been noted in Harvington (this year),  Gorse Hill and Elbury Mount Local Nature Reserve, Aldington (between Offenham and Badsey), near Kidderminster, near The Walshes in Stourport, Upton Snodsbury, Powick, Madresfield, the Lenchford Inn at Shrawley, Bewdley, Bentley (near Bromsgrove) and Stoke Prior.

Many of these encounters are in Worcestershire's wildest tracts of country. However, not all are in remote areas with one dog walker describing how she fled a Worcester nature reserve with her two powerful dogs, one of which was bred to fight wolves.