A BIG cat has been spotted roaming along a quiet road near Alresford.

Dubbed the ‘beast of Ropley’, the large “jaguar-like” animal was spotted crossing Gascoigne Lane by a delivery driver.

Darren Wooldridge said he saw the creature as it emerged from the side of a house before leaping over a ditch and into a hedge just 30 yards in front of him.

He described the animal as very muscular, two feet tall at the shoulders, with dark fur and having a metre-long tail.

Mr Wooldridge, 36, an Iceland delivery driver, from Alton, had just finished work when the animal crossed the road in front of him.

He said: “It was a shock to see it. I just thought what the hell is that?

“I slammed on the brakes as I wanted to get a second look at it. I just couldn’t believe what I had seen.

“It was definitely a big cat and a powerful looking animal. It was the way it leapt over the ditch, I have never seen anything like it.” Wildlife expert Chris Packham, who has previously worked on a TV show about big cats living in the UK, urged local residents not to worry but to keep a look out for signs of its existence.

He said: “Its existence is a distinct possibility as they are extraordinarily secretive animals.

“There is no doubt that they could have lived unseen, apart from chance opportunities like this in Hampshire.

“But they will give themselves away by scratching trees, leaving footprints, excrement and leaving traces of their kills around which they sometimes drag up trees.

“There is a chance that this is a smaller animal, but there’s also a chance it escaped from a private keeper.

“But the public has nothing to worry about.You would have to corner if before it became dangerous.”

Chris Graham, councillor for Ropley and Tisted, said that no sightings had been reported recently, but a big cat had been spotted in the area five years ago.

A previous Hampshire Chronicle investigation last year revealed a whopping 82 sightings of big cats in Hampshire over the last 19 years