A NEWSPAPER delivery person has reported seeing a "huge black creature" with "a long tail and orange eyes" while on his round.

Rob, who asked for his surname not to be used, was delivering down a country lane in the Hoseley area of Marford when he encountered the mystery the beast looking directly at him.

It happened at about 6.30am on Wednesday, March 3, he told Puma Watch North Wales, a group set up to document and investigate such encounters.

He told Puma Watch: “I was delivering newspapers down a country lane when my head lights caught a large black animal with a long tail and orange eyes on the lane.

“It looked my way and then disappeared through an opening in the hedge, I stopped the van and tried to see if I could see it but it had gone.

“I have been down this lane for 20 years every morning and have seen foxes, badgers and dogs but nothing like this.”

Rob Jones, of Puma Watch North Wales, said: "Big cats such as pumas are solitary with a hunting range of dozens of miles. They’re mostly spotted in Snowdonia and the Clwydian hills but reports of sightings in urban locations some distance from these areas are becoming more frequent.

"As seen with Llandundo’s now-famous goats, who have taken to roaming the town’s deserted streets during the coronavirus lockdowns, it’s likely that the reduced levels of human activity over the last year is encouraging big cats to roam further from the hills into more populated areas.

"Earlier this year, the Welsh Government responded to the recent spate of sighting and confirmed the steps they take to investigate any reported to them, including taking casts of paw prints.

"When big cats were banned as pets in the 1970s, it was legal to release them into the countryside to avoid expensive rehoming costs. Owners from across the UK travelled to areas like Wales to release their cats in the remote environment, where small but significant populations have thrived ever since."