A DEDICATED panther spotter claims this is a picture of the beast prowling near Croome Court.

Granted, it is hard to make out what is exactly in the picture - but Paul Kear, from Worcester, is adamant he has seen the large black panther five or six times.

He also claimed it was with two cubs and discovered piles of animals' bones close to where he spotted the 'panther'.

The 45-year-old has been out most days trying to catch a glimpse of the beast after first spotting it while driving his friends Robert and Nicola Ingram at the end of last month.

Mr Kear claims to have seen the panther five or six times and yesterday spotted a "big, black shadow" a couple of fields away which he believes was the animal.

He said: "I was out of my car and suddenly these two cubs popped up.

"They were quite big and less than 20 yards away.

"I panicked because and ran back to my car.

"I had my phone in the pockets of my tracksuit bottoms but it fell out and by the time I had got back in the car they had disappeared."

Only moments later he managed to spot what he believes was the black panther and took this picture.

"In the distance I saw a big black shadow move across a field.

"I tried to zoom in to get a picture.

"It was about two or three fields away."

He is hoping to meet up with big cat expert Rick Minter to try and uncover more proof of the panther's existence next week.

Mr Minter, a researcher and author of Big Cats: Facing Britain's Wild Predators, said it was possible a black panther could be prowling in Worcestershire.