A CLAIM that a golden eagle was seen over Petersfield has been treated with caution by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

Iain Miller, of Wheatear Drive, was watching red kites over his house when he saw something completely unexpected.

He said: “I saw a bigger bird circling in out of the clouds higher up. I think it was a golden eagle.”

For a few years a golden eagle which had escaped from a private collection was seen over the South Downs, but the last reported sighting was in 2013. There have also been sightings in Kent.

Although the only known wild golden eagles live in Scotland, RSPB wildlife advisor Ben Andrew didn’t dismiss the sighting.

He said: “It is highly unlikely he saw a wild eagle, but every couple of months we get a verifiable report of an eagle that has escaped from a private collection in England and it could be one of those he saw.”