UNUSUAL droppings found in a garden in Toot Hill have added to the ongoing belief that a big cat' is roaming fields in the area.

Recent big cat' sightings stretching back several months are centred around the Toot Hill area.

Now Patrick Griggs, who lives next to Toot Hill Golf Club, believes droppings in his garden and an unusual cat-type noise could prove that the so-called Beast of Ongar continues to be roaming the area.

Mr Griggs said: "I haven't seen anything but I heard this extraordinary noise. It sounded like a cat but with a bass voice. It definitely wasn't a fox and definitely wasn't a dog."

He heard the noise in early March while taking his dog for a late evening walk.

"I called my wife and she heard the sound as well. Just this week we've discovered some droppings in our garden of a size and form I've never seen before. They're in a prominent position suggesting territorial marking which I believe is characteristic of big cats."

Following our recent reports of sightings, seven-year-old Ben Terry has said he believes he saw a lynx several weeks ago opposite the Coopersale turn-off on the Epping-North Weald road on his way home from school.

The location is near where Rupert Martin, quoted in last week's Epping Forest Guardian, said he saw a grey big cat-type animal two summers ago.

Ben's mother, Sam, said: "Having an extreme interest in animals and wildlife and having numerous books on creatures I've no doubt in him whatsoever. Although I did ask if he was sure it wasn't a deer, domestic cat etc he remains adamant (it was a lynx)."

She added: "He said it came out of the wood into a clearing and stood and looked in our direction as we drove past. I thought it odd he said it was a lynx as I thought most of the cat sightings were described as a black panther. He said it had a grey speckly body and pointy ears and was definitely a lynx."

She added: "Often when we drive past the spot he points and says that's where I saw that lynx', hoping to see it again!"