Not only is this proof that big cats do exist, but it is also evidence that Government have been sitting on this information


By JOHN COLES

FEROCIOUS big cats DO live in Britain — after being seen by Forestry Commission rangers.

The official confirmation came yesterday — proving thousands of members of the public have been right for years.

Forestry workers conducting deer surveys have TWICE got within 50 yards of the fearsome creatures in the wild, it was revealed.

<Last night the commission — forced to come clean under freedom of information laws — was accused of hushing up the news to avoid panic. The Beast of Bodmin-style animals were captured on night vision gear as they prowled the Forest of Dean, Gloucs.

Rob Guest, 58, who was with colleagues during both sightings, yesterday told how the first was crossing a road near Lydney.

The deputy surveyor confessed: “It had a long thick tail and was clearly a big cat.”

The second was lurking among trees at Staple Edge. Rob said: “Again we came within about 50 metres of it.

“It’s impossible to say what it was — whether it was a puma, a lynx or what.” Rangers found no deer devoured — suggesting the mysterious animals were living off rabbits.

Similar big cats have been reported as far away as Scotland — as well as famously on Cornwall’s Bodmin Moor.

There have also been sightings in Devon, Somerset and Wales.

The British Big Cat Society founder Danny Bamping said last night: “Not only is this proof that big cats do exist in the wild but it is also evidence that Government-run organisations have been sitting on this information.”

The Department for Farming and Rural Affairs insisted the creatures were only isolated individuals and not organised, breeding groups.