A PENSIONER claims to have spotted a large, non-native black cat which appears to be stalking the Lake District.

Edna Pepper, 76, said that she was in the car going from Keswick to her home in Ambleside when she saw the creature close to Grasmere.

"I just looked out and I saw this black cat and I could not believe it," she said. "We couldn't stop because it was on Penny Rock - sitting there, just on the rock looking down."

Mrs Pepper said that there was no room for her husband, Colin, to pull into the lay-by on the busy A591 road but that she is sure it was not just a domestic animal.

"It was big and it had its mouth slightly open," she said. "And its eyes were enormous."

Although she said that she saw the cat on Monday (July 25) afternoon, it was not until she read about another sighting in The Westmorland Gazette last week that Mrs Pepper decided to share her experience.

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"I thought about it when I saw it and then I saw it in the Gazette and thought I must ring in," she said. "It was exactly what I saw."

Last week, the Gazette heard from holidaymaker Jason Young, of St Helens, who had seen what he thought might be a panther close to the Roman remains in Ambleside. It was also reported on social media that a man had seen a black panther on the A591 close to Rydal on his way to Grasmere.

Mrs Pepper, who has lived in the area for 58 years, said that she thinks she has seen something similar on a previous occasion.

"We have got a wood at the back of our house and years and years ago I saw something like that once before," she said. "But it was smaller."

Over the years there have been multiple sightings of a 'big black cat' in Cumbria, including in Kendal, Levens, Natland, Witherslack and in the Winster Valley.

Mrs Pepper said that she was in disbelief when she saw the creature but added that it would be a different story if she was a walker.

"I don't know if walkers go there", she said. "But it would be quite frightening if you saw something like that."