Police officers say they have spotted what they believed to be a big cat during a morning patrol.
Traffic officers Pc Darren Elsom and Pc Louise Raven say they saw the animal loping across a hill as they were driving through Ellistown, near Coalville.
The pair made the sighting at 7.15am on Tuesday, four days after colleague Pc Mick Kaiser reported seeing a similar animal in Shepshed four-and-a-half miles away.
Pc Elsom said: "Louise saw it first and she pointed it out to me, and as clear as anything you could see it was a cat - a big one. It certainly wasn't just Tiddles, it was bigger than an Alsatian.
"It was three our four hundred yards away, but it was silhouetted against the skyline so we could easily see it. There was no mistaking what it was.
"We could see it for two or three minutes. It didn't seem to be in a hurry. It's frustrating, because most cars have video camera but we didn't. Eventually, it ran off from the direction of Hugglescote towards Stanton.
"As it ran, it got gradually faster and faster and you could tell it was fairly powerful.
"I didn't know another officer had seen a big cat a few days before. It could easily be the same one when you think of the distances involved.
"I'm was fairly open-minded about there being big cats, but now I've seen this I'm convinced.
"We went and spoke to a resident who lives near the sports ground where we were and she told us there had been repeated sightings. Our colleagues have been joking with us, but we know what we saw."
Pc Elsom said the cat was spotted near to a disused railway line.
On Friday, Pc Kaiser was jogging along another former railway line in Shepshed at 12.50pm when, he says, he saw a black cat around 4ft long and 2ft high.
Pc Kaiser closed to within 25 yards of the animal before it fled from his sight.
Both sightings have been passed on to Leicestershire and Rutland Panther Watch, a group that records incidents of big cats been spotted.
David Spencer, of Panther Watch, said: "Both of these sightings appear to be of what is a panther. They are both from excellent and impartial witnesses in the police.
"This is further evidence that the cats are out there. It is very hard to question this sort of evidence."
Mr Spencer said it was possible that both sightings were of the same cat, which could have roamed the five miles between Shepshed and Ellistown.
(Original headline: WE SAW A BIG CAT TOO, SAY POLICE PATROL PAIR )
See also: Shropshire Family Report Seeing Big Black Cat>
.:Story originally published by:.
Leicester Mercury Shropshire / England | Dan Martin - Apr 28.07
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