(Original headline: Beast is back? )
A cat the size of an Alsatian was spotted by a dog walker enjoying an evening stroll.
Andrew Hollings was amazed when he saw the massive creature slink out of woodland near Station Road, Welham Green, on Wednesday.
The dad-of-one, of Holloways Lane, said: "It was the size of a Labrador or Alsatian with a long tail."
The 57-year-old said he had been walking his family's Yorkshire terrier pup at around 8pm when the cat - possibly the legendary Beast of Brookmans Park - decided to show itself.
"I looked back and I saw this thing move out of the shadows of the woods," said Andrew, who has seen wild cats while on safari in Kenya.
"At first I thought it was just a dog off a lead. But the more I looked as it came past me the more I saw it was behaving very much like a wild animal.
"I kept very quiet. I wasn't scared, just fascinated. I thought 'that's something unusual!'"
n Impressive as it is, Andrew's sighting pales in comparison to some of those revealed this week by organisation Beastwatch UK.
A survey showed that among exotic animals spotted in the UK were 10 crocodiles, three pandas and a penguin!
