A PANTHER-like creature has been sighted in a village on the outskirts of Worcester where it was spotted leaping a seven-foot fence.

Rob Rosewarne claims 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.

"I saw it from about 100 yards away hanging around a fence at the bottom of the Wet and Wilds field," he said.

"It then jumped the fence which was about seven foot high and disappeared into the trees."

The 25-year-old sculptor at Hallow-based Unique Concepts said he was half asleep when he saw the creature on Wednesday morning.

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

"It looked like a panther."

The latest sighting is one many in the county over the past three years to prompt belief in a "Black Beast of Worcestershire" which prowls the countryside.

Last September, a big, black cat, possibly a panther, was sighted in Kidderminster, but despite a thorough helicopter search, the animal was not traced.

Roger Kordas described how he came face to face with a "powerful, black, muscular cat about the size of a Labrador but longer" walking his dogs, while mother-of-two Amanda Perry has spotted a large creature with a long tail and orange eyes near her Callow End home.

Meanwhile another animal, later nicknamed the Beast of Colwall, was seen on the village's Jubilee Drive, and there have also been sightings in Mathon, Madresfield, Cradley, on Bredon Hill, near Evesham, and near Bewdley.

Anyone with fresh sightings should call researchers at Operation Big Cat, who are compiling a national register of British big cats, at 14 Rayns Close, Sprowston, Norwich, NR6 7QX or e-mail operationbigcat@supanet.com