A JCB digger driver has told how he sat and watched what he is convinced was a black puma walk across fields close to a flock of sheep.

Tony Wiffen, 34, of Burton Close, Abingdon, was so stunned when he saw the mystery creature that he pulled into a lay-by to keep a close watch on it.

The machine driver was travelling along the B4099 near Britwell Salome at mid-morning when he first spotted the creature.

He said: "Being in a JCB, I am higher up than most and was obviously travelling slowly on my way to work.

"I was less than a mile from Britwell Salome at the time and saw something moving along in one of the fields by the side of the road.

"I kept looking over as I was driving along. It was black, long and low, with a long tail which turned up at the end.

"At first, I thought it must be some sort of dog, but it was walking like a cat does so I thought it couldn't be. And it was much too big for a fox.

"I watched it for about four minutes in all. It looked round for a couple of seconds, probably distracted by the noise of the engine, then just carried on walking until it disappeared into some bushes." He added: "There were sheep in the next field, with some lambs, which may have attracted it."

Like many areas in the country, Oxfordshire has been the scene of a number of reported mystery big cat sightings.

Last year, there were reports of a similar sighting in the Culham area, near Abingdon, and there have also been unconfirmed sightings in the Woodstock area.

Mr Wiffen said: "The grass was long-ish so I couldn't be 100 per cent, but I would say that whatever it was I saw was about four and a half to five feet long, from its nose to its tail.

"I am 99 per cent sure it wasn't a dog. Dogs just don't walk in that way."

Many people suspect that big cats could have been released into the wild by private owners.

However, there is very little in the way of proof that there are such creatures roaming our countryside.

Mr Wiffen believes this is partly because the cats are wary of human interference.

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