LINDSAY Black can’t prove that a black panther crossed his path on a bridleway near Clanfield a fortnight ago.

But the Horndean dog walker is not the first person to spot a big cat in the area according to Post readers, and he probably won’t be the last.

The story about the rumoured black panther sighting which featured on the front page of our Clanfield and Horndean editions last week has become a hot topic on the Post’s website.

The story has attracted more than 41,000 hits since it went online last Wednesday and it has also caught the eye of the national media.

While there are sceptics – and to be fair scientists haven’t been able to prove the existence of Britain’s most famous wild cat, the Beast of Bodmin, despite numerous sightings over 20 years – it appears Mr Black is not alone in seeing a big cat in the East Hampshire district.

“I saw something like this a couple of years back along the edge of the Taro fields,” wrote one Facebook user from Petersfield last week in response to our ‘Black Panther’ article, while another recalled a similar sighting a few years ago in Liss.

Rebecca Wright, who is busy organising this year’s Clanfield Fete, seems pretty sure that Mr Black wasn’t seeing things on the Green Lane Bridleway Open to All Traffic as there were numerous ‘big cat’ sightings in the same area around the turn of the decade.

“This has been around the area for years,” said Mrs Wright. “It was spotted by two different people from the Windmill View estate about five years ago when we all moved in.”

Big cat sightings have been well documented over the last 350 years, with William Cobbett making one of the first near Farnborough in the 1760s, although he was beaten for making the suggestion.

One of the most conclusive investigations took place in west Wales where experts investigating a spate of livestock deaths looked at the depth of teeth marks.

They concluded that a creature considerably larger than a domestic cat had sunk its teeth into sheep and foals, but another scientific investigation around Bodmin in 1995 threw up no evidence.

Like any animal, a big cat does have a lifespan so it would need a mate or an owner who is secretly breeding them.

The implementation of the Dangerous and Wild Animals Act 1976 makes this difficult to believe, due to its strict welfare and safety rules, but Lindsay and other residents around the district know what they’ve seen.

“I didn’t take any photographs as we were in a bit of a stand-off and I didn’t look for paw prints but there could be some off the lane,” said Mr Black to the Post when reporting the sighting.” If you think you have seen the big cat contact reporter Paul Ferguson on 023 9257 2801.