Has the mysterious county 'big cat' been on the prowl in Pembrokeshire again?

The latest reported sighting of the panther or puma-like animal, came on Wednesday morning, when Jameston resident Sharon Swain spotted a large cat-like figure crossing the field behind her bungalow at around 8.30 am.

"It was certainly not a normal cat; it was much, much bigger, completely black and longer than my two labradors, but about the same height, with a long tail, longer in proportion to body than say a cat's tail," said Mrs. Swain, who has recently moved to the village from Cumbria with her husband Adrian.

"It was about 200 yards away from where I was standing and walked like a cat.

I saw it for about two or three minutes as it walked down the side of a hedge to the bottom of the field where on the corner is a fence or gate to stop the horse getting out, and it just went under or round that gate and disappeared down hill into an even wilder area," she continued.

Mrs. Swain, who writes books, was sitting on her sofa typing at the time she spotted the big cat and told her husband immediately what she had seen

"I glanced up, saw it, and said to my husband 'there's a black panther', I got up to look out of the window - it was still there, just sniffing the ground and walking slowly.

"My husband didn't see it, and by the time he got to the window it was disappearing," she explained.

Mrs. Swain also alerted her neighbour, who is a farmer with sheep, about her sighting, and hopes that other livestock owners in the area will be on the alert.

"Having just recently moved to the area, I wasn't aware that there had been such sightings of big cats across the county, but it was still a shock to see such an animal prowling around just off our premises at that time in the morning," added Mrs. Swain.

• There have been numerous sightings of a black cat across the county over the years and in recent months, with the latest coming after a motorist said they had seen the animal on the A477 to the west of Llanddowror last December and a former police officer had said that the animal passed just in front of his car near the village of Treffgarne in January.

Farmers in rural Tir Croes and Princes Gate have also been on high alert after pedigree sheep were found killed in the area last year, believed to have been caused by a large animal.