'Panther' by police station was most likely a cuddly toy

A large cuddly toy left on a grass bank triggered concerns that a black cat might have been on the loose in Peterborough. Marc Peacock-Smith spotted what looked like the outline of a black panther-like creatrure lying on a grass verge outside Thorpe Wood police station in Longthorpe.

Mr Peacock-Smith, who had been on his way to work at the time stopped to take a picture of the figure.  He said: “I was driving along to drop my son off at nursery when I saw what looked like the biggest black cat or panther sat on a verge right outside the police station.



“I stopped my car for a few seconds so I could take a picture on my mobile phone, I didn’t get out of my car and I must have been about 10 metres or so away from it. It just sat there. I’m sure other people saw it too. My reaction was intrigue more than anything, I just thought it was really odd.” However, it looks likely that object may have been a ‘life-size’ child’s cuddly toy.

A spokesman for Cambridgeshire Police said officers had received a call on Monday afternoon from someone reporting a Puma walking along a grass verge in Thorpe Road, Longthorpe. However, the spokesman added that a very large stuffed toy cat had been seen in the same area earlier the same day. Daniel Bamping, founder of the British Big Cats Society, said: “This looks to me like a large cuddly toy.”