A large mystery cat, possibly a puma or a lynx, could be on the prowl in South Wales.

Three schoolboys said they were scared when they saw a big cat while they were out on a walk.

Experts are checking paw prints the creature left behind to see if it is an escaped puma or lynx.

10 year-old Matthew Brown, and his friends Stuart Palmer, 10, and Jamie Harris, 11, raised the alarm after going out for a walk near their home in South Wales.

The boys said they were saved by that Matthew's pet Alsatian dog,Tess, which scared the animal away.

"It was just looking at us from 10 feet away. I was really frightened. Tess started barking at it and we threw a stone to scare it off," said Matthew.

He described the cat as a three-foot-tall with ginger streaks.

A vet has taken plaster casts of the paw prints left at the scene and South Wales police have mobilised the force helicopter to help officers look for the big cat.

They are searching an isolated area used for forestry and farmland at Garnswllt, near Pontarddulais.

Matthew's mother, Catherine Brown said: "They came home very frightened and I had to calm them down.

"The dog was scared too because her hair was standing on end. Matthew said the creature looked like a tiger with fur hanging off it. If it hadn't been for Tess I dread to think what might have happened."

Farmers in remote parts of West Wales have reported similar sightings to the police in recent years. Some have claimed that sheep and lambs have been killed by the mystery wild animal.
 

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