THE huge paw prints run across a muddy field close to a wooded riverbank.

Three-and-a-half inches in length, they also show deep claw marks – and may be the latest evidence to prove the existence of the mythical Durham Puma.

Sightings of the legendary big cat have been reported numerous times over the past two decades, but the latest prints are the first to be spotted in several years.

They were found by a walker close to the River Tees at Winston, near Barnard Castle at the weekend.

“I spotted them on the ground, it was so big I could not miss it,” said the man, who asked to remain anonymous.

“I had a look over my shoulder in case the thing which made it was still nearby.

“I’d heard of the Durham Puma before, and it’s the only thing I can think of that would explain tracks like these.”

Other witnesses have come forward since the tracks were found.

Angler Roger Pedleham, 43, a wholesale flower merchant, of Darlington, said he had a close encounter with the beast four years ago during a fishing trip.

“The first thing I noticed was a big long tail that was totally unmistakable. It was about two-and-a-half to three foot tall.

“I could tell by the way it walked that it was a cat. My heart was absolutely pounding.

“It was following the field edge and it was very black, like a black panther.”

He was reluctant to report his sighting, but when others claimed to have seen the puma he broke his silence.

In 1995. a dung sample was examined by Dr Hans Kruuk, a carnivore specialist at the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, in Aberdeen, who concluded it was “ puma or leopard droppings”.

Retired police constable and member of Horton Angling Club, Bob Walker, 51, of Darlington, said he too has faced the big cat.

“It came to the edge of the bank, stopped and looked at me and I looked at it and then it ran off back to the treeline.

I nearly jumped out of my skin.”

This latest evidence has backed the view of Inspector Eddie Bell, of Durham Police, who has logged reports of big cats in the area since the first murky sighting in Thinford, near Spennymoor, in 1986.

Insp Bell believes there are up to 15 big cats, the size of a large doberman, on the loose in the county.

“There is no doubt now that there is something out there.

“It is a big cat and hopefully tests will reveal exactly what type of cat.’’