Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Big cat spotted prowling near homes in St Andrews

Big cat spotted prowling near homes in St Andrews

A big cat has again been reported prowling just yards from houses in St Andrews.

Drew Lumsden spotted the beast as he drove daughter Kaitlyn, 7, from their home on the south-east edge of the town to her swimming class last week.

The landscaper insisted the black animal was the size of an alsatian or labrador dog but had a feline gait and long tail.

He said: “I am 100% certain it was a cat. It was certainly no dog.”

Big cat sightings have been reported in that area before, with a flurry in 2012.

The animal spotted last Thursday evening was in a field about 300 yards from the road near the Grange Inn.

Drew said: “I was taking my daughter to swimming just before 6pm and she saw it first.

“She thought it was a fox at first but it was no fox, it was black.

“I could tell it was a cat by its head and the length of its tail. It was walking along, as casual as anything.

“I stopped to take a photograph but it was too dark and pictures came out grey.”

The pair stopped and watched the creature for more than five minutes.

Drew, who was one of several people to spot a big cat at Rathillet a few years ago, returned the next day to look for paw prints but found none.

Four years ago there were several sightings of a creature resembling a black leopard in the same area and Lumbo Den and a wooded area near Strathkinness Low Road.

Local historian and artist David Joy said he had seen the cat several times, once just yards from his door at The Grange, and had found remains of rabbits which he said had obviously been eaten by something large.

Just a few weeks earlier there were a series of sightings reported over just a few days of a creature resembling a black leopard with a 4ft long tail around Kilmany.

Fife has previously been named a big cat hotspot, with a plethora of tales of large felines roaming the countryside.

Police revealed in 2014 that they had had 10 reports in the previous two years.

One was of a man being attacked by a big cat in Strathkinness.

Many believe in the Balbirnie Beast, said to be on the loose around the Glenrothes area.

In 2006 Fife Constabulary thought it had found proof of the animal when it produced a cast of paw print which experts said may have been from an 18-month-old big cat, but others argued it could have been a large dog.

Sightings have also been recorded at Saline, Leven, the Lomond Hills, Letham, Bishop Hill and Blairadam.