A CREATURE described as a "big cat" has been spotted for the fourth time along a short stretch of the A5 between Oswestry and Chirk.

Last week, Craig Davies described how he had inadvertently caught an image of a large black creature on camera at Cefn Mawr in April.

Witnesses reported seeing the mystery beast again near Chirk McDonalds just over an hour later.

It was seen again at the A5’s disused Oswestry level crossing the following day.

All of the sightings were reported to Puma Watch North Wales, the group set up to document and investigate such sightings.

Now another witness claims to have seen the creature.

Claire Evans told Puma Watch that she was driving along the A5 with her sister at around 3.20am one morning about three weeks ago – the same week the other reported sightings occurred.

They described seeing "a stockily-built cat with orange eyes sat beneath a large green road sign" as they approached the Whittington Road roundabout.

Claire said the animal, which she described as a bobcat, lynx or puma, was sat on its hind legs, just under the cover of the hedges.

Claire said: “I just get the feeling he was completely comfortable with the surroundings and definitely wasn’t new to the area”.

Claire told Puma Watch: “I’ve literally just been reading about the sightings of a large cat in the Oswestry and Chirk areas. My sister and I were late-night driving, around 3 weeks ago, it was around 3.20 am and as we were approaching the Oswestry/Whittington roundabout on the A5 Road.

“We both happened to look to the left (just under the huge green road signs) and albeit briefly for just a few seconds we both seen the exact same thing as each other!

“We turned to look at each other in total shock as if to say “did you just see that” and thank bloody god she did.

“There’s quite thick hedgerow along that road and whatever it was, it was literally sat down, watching us watching him."

Claire added that the animal "definitely wasn’t a domestic cat nor a dog, way too big for it to be either".

She said: "The eyes were an orange colour, and under the brief lighting that we had, I just knew it was a light sandy colour. I almost want to say ‘like a tabby effect’ but not too obvious.

“The head was large and stubby with quite pointed ears (almost like a little extra hair on the tips of them maybe). It wasn’t overly huge but definitely built stockier than any domestic animal.

“Now if I’d have seen it when I was alone I’d probably of convinced myself it was anything but a wild cat, but for my sister to see the exact same description as me, at the exact same time? I simply cannot argue with that.

“First thing that came to my head when I seen it was ‘bobcat’ but I don’t think we have those in the UK but I want to stick with bobcat/lynx or puma as the closest I can get to describing what we saw, as in build, colour and features such as pointing ears etc.”

“Just from how it was sat, watching the world go by, and that distinct tired cat slow blink. I just get the feeling he was completely comfortable with the surroundings and definitely wasn’t new to the area.”

Tony Jones, of Puma Watch, said: "Big cats have also been spotted just a few miles away from Cefn Mawr and Chirk along the Dee Valley. Upstream towards Llangollen, we’ve shared reports of a big cat spotted from a canal boat, at Valle Crucis Abbey and on the Horseshoe Pass towards Llandegla. A “black animal” with a “long tail and orange eyes” was spotted in Wrexham just last month. Big cats have also been spotted in Wrexham County’s village of Penley."