REPORTS of a mysterious beast roaming Birchencliffe have prompted a Lindley woman to recall a strange sighting last year.

Moira McMartin, of Holly Bank Road, said she saw a large, dark- furred animal in a neighbour's garden one night last October.

She now wonders whether the beast is the same animal that has been sighted in recent weeks in Birchencliffe and Bolster Moor.

Ms McMartin, 37, said: "My neighbour puts food out for foxes and they often trigger the security light when they come up to the house.

"One night, the light went on and I looked out expecting to see a fox in the garden.

"But instead there was a large animal which seemed to have dark fur with even darker spots.

"I couldn't see any ears, but it had very striking eyes."

Ms McMartin said she was prompted to report the sighting to the Examiner after reading reports of a mystery beast in the area.

A man eating a sandwich at Armitage's Garden Centre in Birchencliffe Hill Road, Birchencliffe, saw a big cat briefly emerge from nearby underground.

Earlier this month, a late-night shopper leaving Birchencliffe Service Station saw a similar creature in Burn Road. Another man later said he saw the beast on an outbuilding roof.

And a Bolster Moor couple told how they watched a big black cat eat a chicken carcass in one go outside their home.