THREE ANGUS women who had previously been sceptical about reports of big cat sightings are now convinced the “big, black beast exists.”

District nurse Meg Hendry and two friends were returning to her home in Brechin after a night out in Edzell on Friday when the sighting occurred.

She said, “It was around 11.20pm and we were just at the first corner after the Lang Stracht opposite the Bedlam paintball centre when we saw it. It had been on the verge but was leaping over a dyke so we didn’t see its head. But we saw the body and tail.

“It was as big as a Labrador dog and pure black with a long, slim tail.

“I own four cats and know how they move and there was no way this was a dog.

“It still gives me goose bumps thinking that there is this creature roaming about.”

Since 2000 there have been around 6000 reported sightings in Britain and they continue to be spotted in Dundee and Angus, although photographic proof has yet to be received.