DOZENS of big cat sightings have been reported across many corners of Oxfordshire, a new Freedom of Information Act request has revealed.

Police have revealed they received 13 reported sightings of big cats in Oxfordshire since January 2010, with another 11 scattered across the rest of the policing area.

Sightings of panther-type creatures have ranged from Minster Lovell and Aston Rowant, to the heart of Oxford in Headington.

Expert Steve Archibald, who runs bigcatsightings.com, said he receives about 15 reported sightings in Oxfordshire a year.

He said: “We know there are people who have owned pumas in Oxfordshire, and we know that large black cats have been reported as well as lynx-type cats with long ears.

“I know for a fact they are out there, I have got reports of sightings from every part of Oxfordshire.

“I cannot really say how many there might be, because they have such big territories.”

He said larger males living in the wild could each have three or four females in tow, but posed no risk to the public unless aggravated.

Regular sightings of big cats in Oxfordshire stretch back over a decade.

Last month the Oxford Mail reported that Thames Valley Police wildlife officer Pc Simon Towers had found a puma’s footprint in West Oxfordshire.

Karen Godfrey, below, 41, of Hewitt Close, Leafield, was with her mother-in-law in July 2000 when a big cat crossed in front of the car on the outskirts of Chadlington.

She said: “It was more the size of the tail that scared us.

“It jumped over a wall in two leaps.

“We got out and stupidly tried to chase it, but it had gone.”

Derek Bowers, of Eynsham Road, Botley, was heading to a business meeting in Great Rollright when a big cat crossed the road in front of him.

He said: “When I told people in the village, they said it had been seen quite regularly around that area.”

Kyle Walters, from Barton, saw a big cat a month ago while walking his dog on the outskirts of the city.

He said: “My dog was looking into the field and a jet black cat-like animal passed us only 15 metres away.

“It was about a foot-and-a-half tall and did not seem the slightest bit bothered by me or my dog.”

In July, organisers of Truck in Steventon were sent photographs apparently showing a panther-like creature skulking around the Hill Farm venue after this year’s music festival.

But two sightings reported to the police at Charlbury Railway Station may be explained away more easily. From passing trains, passengers catch a glimpse of a steel puma created by Milton-under-Wychwood artist Simon Lea in the gardens of a nearby house.