”… it is understood no panthers had been reported missing in the area.”

A terrified New Cross woman says she "freaked out" after seeing a panther in the street.

The woman, who was on her way to work at the time, fled back to her house and called police after seeing the beast in Southern Gateway, a residential area near Fordham Park and Deptford Green School.

But when police arrived to investigate, there was no sign of the wild animal and it is understood no panthers had been reported missing in the area.

SNORK!

Of course, she wasn't going to leave it at that, was she? Who you gonna call?

The woman also contacted expert Neil Arnold who runs Kent Big Cat Research and has been tracking sightings across the south east.

Oh dear...

"I am disappointed that I wasn't taken more seriously by the local police who asked me almost straight away if I had been drinking when I first reported it. "

*chuckles*

Mr Arnold said he was hoping to get more information on the sighting and that he was surprised nobody else had seen it in such a densely populated area.

He said: "It's interesting regarding that area because I do get sightings from Sydenham and Bromley. But New Cross, not far from the station - I just don't know why it would be there."

Catching a train, maybe? If it's good enough for pigeons...