A BLACK cat may be on the prowl in Suffolk today after a dog-walker spotted one of the beasts.Paul Newman was taking his dog, Coco, for a walk along Park Lane, Kirton, around 9.25pm yesterday when he saw what he originally thought was a large Labrador.

A BLACK cat may be on the prowl in Suffolk today after a dog-walker spotted one of the beasts.

Paul Newman was taking his dog, Coco, for a walk along Park Lane, Kirton, around 9.25pm yesterday when he saw what he originally thought was a large Labrador.

But as the creature emerged from the bushes in the side of the road Mr Newman, 38, quickly realised he wasn't looking at any normal dog.

The newspaper-deliverer said: “Its head and half of its body appeared and I had to wrestle my dog back because she's a little dog and gets excited when she sees other dogs.

“But then it came out further and it slunk down, just like a cat, then crawled across the road and I knew it wasn't a dog.

“It seemed quite docile. I wasn't scared but I was concerned for my dog.

“I don't think it would attack a human being unless it had to but it could see my dog as easy prey.”

Mr Newman, of Park Lane, Kirton, said he was 99 per cent sure that the animal he had seen was a large black cat, such as a panther, especially as he has cats of his own and knows their movements.

But he admitted that before seeing it with his own eyes he would have been dubious about the idea a black cat was roaming the Suffolk countryside.

He added: “I was very sceptical about it before, but now I'm sure.

“I hope it isn't there the next time I go out as it made my dog very uneasy.

“She is fine now but she was looking behind her for all of the walk back last night.”

Have you spotted a black cat in Suffolk? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.