The beast of Essex has been spotted in the county for the first time since the foot-and-mouth crisis, with the latest sighting near Felsted.

The large greyish-black cat-like creature was seen by Debbie Lowe and Barry Hasler, 35, as they were driving towards the Compasses at Littley Green, near Felsted.

The 28-year-old receptionist said they took the Littley Green turning, opposite Ridley's Brewery at Hartford End, when they saw a greyish-black creature as they went around a bend, where a farm track leads off.

The couple stopped and the animal turned its head to look at them.

"It was definitely not a dog or a fox. It was slinking along and kept turning around and looking at us," she said.

"It had a long slinky tail and a big head. We were going to drive along the track and then we thought better of it."

The couple sat for more than five minutes looking at the puma-type animal before it went out of sight.

"We have never seen anything like this before. I was not frightened because we were in the car but if we were walking I would have been," said Miss Lowe.

Mr Hancock, of the Braintree-based Essex Big Cat Research Project, said this was the first sighting since the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

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