John Hescott was exercising his two Yorkshire terriers at 10.30pm when he saw the animal 100 yards from where he was standing.

This follows a sighting of a creature believed to be a black leopard near Arlington last week, as reported in the Gazette on Wednesday.

Mr Hescott was with his dogs on an area of verge near his house when he saw the big cat walk from a play area in Faversham Road into a service road.

He said, "We've also got a labrador cross Alsatian and it was the size of that. It just looked around but didn't seem in any hurry."

Mr Hescott has reported the sighting to the police.

Sussex Police can confirm they received a report of a possible sighting of a big cat in the Langney area of Eastbourne on Monday January 8, around 7pm.

A police spokesperson said, "It's important to note that this report is of a possible sighting.

"There have been countless similar reports in the local media over the years.

"Many 'big cat' theories have been put forward but none, to my knowledge, have been substantiated by firm evidence."