Fears of big cat on the Chase

The imprint was found by Norton Canes plumber Kevin Goodson while walking his two labradors.

It measures five inches across the pad and is six inches long.

The find comes a fortnight after a deer kill prompted fears of a big cat stalking the Chase.

Mr Goodson, aged 57, from Norton East Road, said: "I usually take my dogs for a walk around that area, going up Burntwood Road and down a track.

"As I walked through a bit of a cutting onto a path which some people use to walk their dogs, I noticed one paw print in the mud and some deer tracks.

"It looked very big and there was a skid mark behind it, like the animal that made it had slipped.

"I wasn't scared as my dogs would have barked if there were something there. I went home to fetch my camera and took a tape measure. My daughter Claire came with me and we took some photos of it."

Mr Goodson said he was taken aback as he never believed tales of such animals living on his doorstep.

He said: "I have lived here and been coming to the Chase for 34 years and never seen anything to suggest a big cat lived here.

"I was always a bit sceptical when people would say there was. My sister-in-law has a field with horses across the way from me and she says they sometimes get spooked by something which could be a big cat."

Last month, Steve Allatt, a 54-year-old retired miner, from Heath Hayes, was walking his dog when he discovered a dead fawn with two puncture holes in its neck.

Mr Allatt said: "I noticed two holes in its neck and could see it had been dragged down the bank into a ditch. "

Staffordshire County Council spokesman Richard Caddy said: "We are totally open minded about the possibility of big cats on the Chase.

"We have never seen any hard and fast evidence but are as fascinated as everyone else and would like to examine any evidence that can be produced."