Jogger spots 'big cat' on the loose in Wakefield

Jeff Johnson was heading out for a run, driving near Heath Common when something caught his eye.

Mr Johnson, from Normanton, said: “I just saw something jet black I thought ‘what the hell is that?’

“When I looked over again I thought ‘that's massive’ and I pulled over into a layby near a farmer’s gate.

"For me it was definitely no dog or normal cat. I've heard about people seeing big cats but it’s not something I’ve ever seen before.”

Mr Johnson said from the roadside the animal’s body appeared that it would reach just below waist height with its head rising above.

He said he was about 200 metres away from the creature.

“I whistled to try attract it," he said.

“It looked but it just stayed stationary. It was there about ten muinutes.

“I was first thinking that I wanted to get closer and then I thought ‘no it could be quite dangerous’. I didn’t know if I would be able to get back if get to boundary fence if I attracted its attention.”

And it’s not the first time that people believe they have spotted big cats roaming free in the district.

A panther like animal was spotted roaming in the countryside twice within a month in September 2016.

And in August that year video footage showing a big black cat was taken close to the Redbeck Motel on Doncaster Road in Crofton.

There have been several reported sightings of the ‘Beast Of Ossett’, which hit national headlines in 2000. Observers likened it to a big black Irish wolfhound.

Three years later there was a report of a large black cat stalking the village of Wintersett.

There were also sightings of a panther or puma like beast roaming between Alverthorpe and Ossett in 2006.

An animal, smaller than a Labrador but bigger than a cat, was spotted along a disused railway track between Wintersett and Newmillerdam in 2009.

And a “panther-like beast” was spotted roaming farmland in Notton in 2011.

Have you spotted any unusual wildlife in Wakefield? Email your pictures to [email protected].