INDIE the Alsatian – named after intrepid adventurer Indiana Jones – turned tail and fled after an encounter with the 'Black Beast' near Whitemead Park.

Indie – a bitch – had given chase in high spirits and disappeared into thick cover in hot pursuit. But she soon came back!

"I heard a lot of barks and then a loud hissing noise. She just shot back out of the bushes with her tail between her legs," said owner Beryl Ryan of Brockhollands after their encounter with the big cat on a Forest path.

"We had been walking along and the cat ran across in front of us just 10 or 12 feet away, so there was no mistaking it. It was not quite as big as Indie but very low to the ground."

Mrs Ryan said she regularly walked her dog either at Whitemead or by the Remploy factory on the other side of Parkend.

"I've never seen anything like it before – it gave me such a shock I fell over and scratched my hand," she said.

"I must admit when I heard stories about the beast I was always sceptical, but walking with a friend in local woods by the Bream road we came across some huge scratch marks on trees and wondered what on earth they could be."

She said seeing the animal had not put her off going back to the same spot with Indie.

"She might have run away that time and I think it would take a lot to make her turn tail, but I think if it came to the crunch and I was under attack she would protect me," she said.