9:47am Monday 11th August 2008
By Robert Fisk
A BEAST of Bexley-type creature is believed to have been spotted in Thamesmead.
The sighting happened at around 3am on Saturday morning (August 9) in Goldfinch Road when a man was woken up by something screeching.
He looked out of his window and saw a small animal racing along the pathway followed by a larger one.
The man, who did not want to be named, said: "I saw a black animal rolling on the grass between two trees.
"I thought to myself, 'Bloody hell! That's the biggest moggy I've ever seen', and then thought, 'It must be a dog'.
"However, its head was cat-like and its tail was very long.
"It walked to the left to some bushes and I moved the other curtain but couldn't see it."
The sighting was reported to Neil Arnold, the founder of the Kent Big Cat Research group, which studies eyewitness reports of large exotic cats.
He believes the creature, which has become known as the Beast of Bexley, is a black leopard.
The Beast' has also been seen at Welling, Erith, Bexleyheath, Belvedere, Bromley, Abbey Wood and towards Dartford.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.newsshopper.co.uk