Big cat sighting

James Barnes was returning from a trip to an art gallery in London on the A31 when he spotted the creature wandering across a field next to the dual carriageway at about 7.45pm on Friday.

He said the beast was prowling close to a small herd of New Forest ponies, which helped him grasp the scale of the creature.

James, 20, of West Moors, who is studying at Bournemouth Arts Institute, described the big cat, which he claims he saw between Stony Cross and Picket Post, as black with a small head and a long tail.

"There was no chance it was a normal domestic cat," he said. "It was so close to the ponies you could get a really good idea of the scale of the animal and it was far too big.

"The only time I have ever seen anything like it before was at the zoo or on the television. I was really amazed."

There were 2,123 sightings of big cats between April 2004 and July 2005, with the south- west the hot spot for sightings.

Dorset and the New Forest have provided a steady stream of sightings, with Dorset police logging about 30 calls a year by 2003.