Big cat sightings reported in Bedfordshire

Just weeks after panic in Essex, two dog walkers have claimed to have seen a lion prowling around a housing estate in the nearby county of Bedfordshire.

One woman, who refused to be named "for fear of being mocked", said she came face-to-face with the beast in Thor Drive, Bedford, as she walked her dogs.

"I was stood about four feet away from it and I've seen enough National Geographic programmes to know it was on the prowl," said the anonymous woman. "I couldn't believe it. My two dogs were shaking. It was too big to be a domestic cat and it was definitely a wild animal. I know what I saw."

The woman's account in a local newspaper prompted another woman to come forward about her sighting of an "orange and brown" big cat whilst she walked her dog in the nearby Asgard Drive.

"It looked like it was in stalk mode and was in a position which looked like it was going to pounce," she said. "It was too big for a normal-sized cat and it wasn't a dog either. I felt a bit strange afterwards and certainly won't be walking there again."

It seems that Bedfordshire police are taking a more sceptical approach to the claims compared to Essex police, who launched a full-scale hunt.

A Bedfordshire police spokesperson said: "There is no ongoing incident involving a lion."