A CASTERTON mother and her two children watched for nearly half an hour as a large black, puma-like cat preened itself on top of the barbecue in their back garden on Sunday afternoon.

"I couldn't believe what we were seeing," Colette Jones told the Westmorland Gazette.

"It was absolutely beautiful."

The cat eventually ran off - apparently frightened by a car door slamming - but Mrs Jones and her sister-in-law saw it again in the back garden in the evening.

"The first time it was just lying on the top of an oil drum that my husband has made into a barbecue," said Mrs Jones.

"It seemed to be relaxed and enjoying the sunshine - kind of preening itself."

Mrs Jones, who admits to feelings of "panic" at first, had time to call her husband in London and her sister- in- law in nearby Farleton, and describe the cat to them.

She also phoned the police who went to her home in Fern Croft, Casterton, but the cat had disappeared.

Mrs Jones says her two children, Kayleigh aged 12 and Jenna aged 8, were excited by the cat, but "a little bit scared" as well.

But both the police and the RSPCA, whom she contacted, have said that the animal seems frightened of humans and prefers to be on its own.

Mrs Jones's description of the large, black cat is similar to other sightings in South Lakeland over the last few years.

She says it was about the size of a labrador dog and mainly black, with a "brownish-mottled"appearance on its neck and head.

When it returned at about 7pm in the evening, she and her sister-in-law, Sally Cross of Farleton, saw it in a light at the side of the house, when they both noted the cat's "greenish" eyes.

Sightings of the cat-like creature in Cumbria and other parts of the country, are now to be included in an environmental document for the European Union.

Naturalist Terry Hooper, co-ordinator of the Exotic Animals Register said this week that he had been asked to compile the document, registering sightings throughout Britain.

There had been quite a lot of sightings in Cumbria and Wales, he said.

Mr Hooper said he would be interested to talk, in confidence, to anyone who felt they had seen a large black cat.

"People often feel a bit reticent about describing what they've seen.

They sometimes think they'll be laughed at," he said this week.

"But it can be done in confidence, and I would like to hear from anyone who has similar sightings to report".

Mr Hooper can be contacted on: 0117-902-4807.