FOR decades the spectre of big wild cats roaming wild in Britain has sent shivers down the spines of farmers and residents alike.

Sightings of powerful and shadowy animals prowling through fields and mauling livestock have become common legends in many parts of the country.

Some have been caught on videotape and groups of hunters and the police have spent many hours chasing leads and looking for clues.

In Hampshire alone there have been more than ten recorded incidents of people coming across big cats in the last decade.

But despite these continued sightings animal experts remain unconvinced that there is a sustainable population of pumas, panthers or leopards to be concerned about.

They argue that families of cats this size would simply be unavoidable and would cause a far greater impact on farm animals than is actually the case.

Deputy curator of the animal department at Marwell Zoo Peter Small is one such non-believer.

He said: "It is my opinion that these are just myths, and it is more likely than anything else to be a dog.

"The source for escaped or wild living large cats is tiny. The number of small collections that kept cats of this size has been greatly reduced and only large establishments are remaining.

"These large places are reputable enough not to allow something to disappear out of their collections without notifying the authorities."

But many people believe the cats were released by private owners when new legislation was introduced in the Dangerous and Wild Animals Act in 1976.

Peter refutes this claim.

He said: "The number of private owners of large cats has diminished to almost nothing following the legislation when people had to obtain licences. If any were just let go then they would have died of old age by now.

"There have been a lot of stories in this area about cats but there has never been a proper sighting and in over 20 years a body has never been produced.

"The reason that they have never been brought in is because they are not there."