SCEPTICAL Brian Elliott of Lydney could hardly believe his eyes as his wife drove him past a rock outcrop near Cannop – bold as brass sunbathing on top of it was a jet black big cat.

"I used to read the stories in the paper and say to myself 'Another load of old rubbish' when people said they had seen this thing," Brian told the Review.

"Now I've seen it myself. It was a most beautiful thing – definitely a big cat, glossy, and with a long tail. It was just lying out on top of the rock, sunbathing I think.

"I just looked up and there it was. I said to my wife look ... but she was driving and wasn't able to look and it is a difficult road to stop on, so she didn't see it properly. But I definitely did.

"It was very big – bigger than our dog – and it didn't run away or seem to notice us. I remember I wondered if it was breeding there. I also wondered later if it might attack humans if it did have young in the area."

Brian, a leukaemia sufferer, had been taking some rubbish to the council waste site at Coleford with his wife Jean when he spotted the animal at 8.30am on Sunday. They continued to the tip and Brian looked out for it on his way back but found the view in the opposite direction was obscured.

"I'm going to take another look in the mornings or late evening again," said Brian. "This time I'll take a camera – I just hope it doesn't see me as a threat to its family."

•A few weeks ago the Review reported the sighting of a big cat at Cannop – a fisherman saw the animal coming to drink from one of the ponds a few yards from where he was sitting.

If you have a sighting of the animal to report call us on 01594 841113.