A WALKER has told of his shock after encountering the Beast of Bucks – a large predatory cat thought to be a panther.

Ernie Carey, from Ickenham, near Uxbridge, had been driving for 30 minutes in Cookham with his wife Barbara when he spotted the animal in Terry's Lane.

Mr Carey said: "The animal was jet black and was at least 2ft high and about 4ft long. It had a very long black tail and little ears. It was huge and its paws were like a tiger's."

He said they were going past a house in Cookham when the animal went past the main gate. It was about 10 to 20 yards ahead.

Mr Carey said: "It just strolled right in front and crossed the road. Barbara was driving the car, I was just looking out of the window in front of us.

"I was shocked for a split second. The car window in the car was down, I shut it quickly, I didn't want it to get into the car. I didn't expect something like that. I wish I had my camera handy.

"It was definitely not a cat. We weren't alarmed or anything like that, it wasn't doing anybody any harm. It wasn't threatening, it was like a cat walking across the road. It was so huge. We both saw it so it wasn't a case of mistaken identity. But we were still completely surprised to see such a big thing."

Mr Carey said he had heard of people who kept wild animals as pets and said he thought that may be the case with the panther.

He said: "I know people do have pets, I've heard of someone who had a tiger in their flat in New York. But I didn't expect to see any."

Mr Carey added: "I do hope somebody else has seen it."

He said he spoke to the RSPCA about the animal but they told him to contact the Free Press.

Danny Bamping, founder of the British Big Cats Society, said sightings were becoming more frequent.

He said: “These sightings are becoming more and more common in Britain and last week we had 15 throughout the country.

“The areas around High Wycombe have seen quite a few sightings and I think it is partly because of the fact people are more confident they will be taken seriously when they report one.

“These black cats are panther-like creatures but they have been around for a long time so may now be hybrids because of cross breeding.

“The cats can have huge territories and will regularly roam through different counties.

“I would advise anyone who comes into contact with one to just observe it – they are more scared of us than we are of them and it will probably run away.” A spokesman for London Zoo said the animal would not have escaped from there because it did not house pumas or panthers.

At the beginning of the year a creature thought to be a lynx killed more than 40 chickens at a poultry farm in Saunderton and staff at a furniture manufacturer spotted a big cat resembling a puma prowling along the edge of a field in Princes Risborough.

Many zoologists believe the number of big cats has increased since the late 1970s when the Dangerous Wild Animals Act forced many people to get rid of exotic pets.