Two pensioners believe they stumbled across the fabled 'Beast of Trowbridge' eating its kill while out for a walk in Wiltshire.



Herbert and Doreen Smith while going through Murhill Woods in Trowbridge where they say they saw the creature which is said to be the size of a Husky or Labrador. They quickly took a picture of the image with the camera they had with them.









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Herbert, 71, said: "Our first impression was sheer astonishment, we really could not believe our eyes at what we were seeing.



"The animal was eating what we believe it had just caught. There was a lot of rabbits about so I expect it was having breakfast."



Sightings of the 'puma-like' animal go as far back as 2009.



The local 'Wiltshire Times' newspaper has carried reports from shopkeepers and drivers of the animal jumping on to cars as well as chasing pet cats.







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Herbert added: "I was about 20ft away from it whilst it was eating, it looked up at me for a couple of seconds then resumed eating.



"If it wasn't for my wife tugging at my arm to get me out of there, I would of stayed observing this magnificent animal."



In 2009 shop worker Allyson Jones told how she came face to face with the big cat dubbed the "Beast of Trowbridge".



Miss Jones, 38, a beauty specialist, was driving on the B3107 between Bradford on Avon and Holt when she saw the beast in the path of her car.



She said: "I thought it was going to eat me. It had just jumped out of a hedge and stood in the path of my car staring at me.



"Its eyes were red because of my headlights, which I then turned off because I know that with other animals, like deer, you turn your lights off and they run away.



"The cat ran away and headed in the direction of Trowbridge."



Jim Holt, 52, from Trowbridge, also saw the beast.



He said: "This cat ran out of the trees across the road and it was then that I saw this creature just looking out from the trees.



"It just lay there and stared. It is definitely a large cat-like creature from what I could tell."



Rita Fielding, 73, of Bradford on Avon, spotted a big cat in 2010.



She said: "I looked over and saw a massive black cat in some dead grass by the bank. I turned to tell my neighbour and it had gone by the time I looked back.



"What struck me is that it was so very very black and was much bigger than a dog."



Jim Connor, 73, and his wife Anna, 71, have seen a panther-like creature in Trowbridge and Westbury.



He said: "I've seen it walking up the drive in the middle of the night without a care in the world."



















































































