A MAN claims he saw a large black ‘panther-like’ cat roaming a residential street near a primary school in Stroud.

Ken Hooper, 77, was driving along Upper Springfield Road in Uplands at 8.45pm on Wednesday, February 25 when he saw what he believes was a large mysterious beast.

He said a ‘large, sleek feline creature’ walked across the narrow residential road near Uplands Primary School before disappearing over an eight foot high fence into the darkness.

“As I turned left into the narrow lane there it was in my headlights in the middle of the road right there in front of me”, explained Mr Hooper, of Tetbury Street, Minchinhampton.

“It was completely black, about the size of an Alsatian but feline looking.

“It had a thick bushy tail about two feet long with streaks of white in the end.

“It looked like some kind of panther or big cat.”

Mr Hooper added: “You could see its muscles in its hind legs working as it turned and jumped right over the fence to my left into it someone’s garden.

Mr Hooper said the experience gave him a sleepless night worrying about what he had just seen.

“ I was worried about it all night and couldn’t sleep at all,” he said.

“I see a lot of domestic cats and foxes in the roads but this was something else.”

Mr Hooper describes himself as a bit of a sceptic about these sort of things but he says there is absolutely no doubt in his mind about what he saw that night.

“ I’ve never been one to exaggerate and I’ve always been sceptical about these kinds of thing before,” he said.

“But there was no doubt in my mind.

“ I’ve never before seen anything like it.”

Mr Hooper was so worried he reported the sighting to the police.

This latest sighting of a large, feline creature is one of several reported in the Five Valleys during recent years.