My wife Ann and I had gone to the Star Inn at North Dalton for Sunday lunch. We were sitting at a table in window which overlooked the pond that stands in front of the pub.

I was facing away from the window but Ann was looking out of the window. We were talking when Ann suddenly fell silent and after a few seconds said words to the effect of, "Am I imagining this or am I really seeing what I think I am?" at which point I turned and looked out of the window.

Across the pond some 100 yards or so away I saw the last two thirds of a large black animal disappearing into the thick hedgerow that borders the Church. From what I saw I would imagine that the animal was around 5/6 foot in length including its tail.

It was quite lowly slung and moved in a distinctly feline manner and it didn't seem to be in much of a hurry as it entered the church yard.

My wife had a much better look at the creature, and she also estimates its size at around the 5ft or more mark.

She described the animal as having a squarish head that was relatively small in comparison to its body.

She said that its shoulders were higher than its haunches and that its lower back dipped a little.

Its tail was long and on the thin side it was carried low with its end part turning upwards.

She also said that it moved very gracefully and quite slowly in a fluid feline fashion as it emerged from the hedges on the right side of the road and crossed over into the church yard.

My wife was visibly taken aback by the sighting and when asked if she was ok by another customer she told her about what she had just seen.

The other customer was sceptical, and suggested that Ann's glass of wine might have been a tad too strong, we also mentioned the incident to the manageress of the pub who seemed a little less sceptical and said that she would keep a look out for the beast.

We definitely saw this animal, it wasn't a dog, and it didn't move like a dog, it must have been a large cat of some description. I'm sure that!

It was far, far too big to be any sort of domestic cat, and the more I visualise it in my mind, the more that I am certain that it was a Panther.

I must add that although we were in the pub when the sighting occurred, the wine bottle had only just been opened and its contents were as of then virtually untouched, so despite the other customers' suggestions, the tipple can't be held responsible for the sightings. When we left the pub we walked over to where we had seen the animal near the church, but as we expected there was nothing to be seen. When we arrived home we mentioned what we had seen to our daughter, expecting her to say that we must have imagined it all, but she told us that not too long ago there had been reported sightings of a large Black cat, possibly a Panther in the Pocklington area, so perhaps this is the same creature.

Updated: 09:56 Thursday, September 22, 2005