AN expert on big cat sightings has played down the possibility that the Durham puma may have moved to the Yorkshire Dales.

Three friends walking near Leyburn, North Yorkshire, spotted a large animal slinking across the crest of a rocky outcrop in Wensleydale at the weekend. They said it was a black cat, but bigger than a domestic pet.

However, Sergeant Eddie Bell, of Consett, County Durham, who has investigated dozens of sightings over the years, said it was unlikely they saw the puma.

"It seems more likely that what these people saw was a big feral cat," he said.

"Kellas cats were bred in captivity in Scotland and can grow as large as a small border collie.

"Nine bodies of jungle cats have also been found around the country, so that is another possibility.''