THERE has been another sighting of the mystery black beast following our story last week.

Liz Jones, wife of Tote chairman Peter Jones, saw the creature at Melplash on Saturday at about midday.

"I was looking out of my mother's kitchen window towards the garden in our farmyard," she said.

"I was amazed to see a very black animal appear from behind a low privet hedge about 30 yards from the house."

At first, Mrs Jones thought it was a calf but as it jumped over the hedge she noticed in particular a very long, cat-like tail curving upwards.

"It jumped down the bank and out of view behind a wall," she said. "When I turned to look out of a window on the other side of the room I saw it at the bottom of our drive heading towards the road that runs through Melplash, the A3066.

"It was fairly close to the ground. It all happened so quickly and briefly that I cannot be sure what it was but the tail was very distinctive and it was much too big to be a domestic cat and very black."

Last week, News editor Margery Hookings saw a similar creature about a quarter-of-a-mile away near the Netherbury turning as she was driving towards Beaminster at approximately 4.45pm.

She also commented on the animal's distinctive tail and said how black the creature was.

""I have no doubts about what I saw," she said.

Mike Garcia, from Beaminster, thinks she saw a stray dog, which has been spotted in the area recently.

However, Mrs Jones is convinced that what she saw was not a black dog.

"It was the way it carried the tail and the way it 'flowed' over the hedge and low wall and also left no footprints in the rain-softened law bank, which it would have done had it been any farm animal," she said.

"Wild boar what I thought when it wend down the drive because it was low to the ground and they have recently escaped but the tail and the blackness just stick in my memory."

The sightings have fascinated Merrily Harpur, a writer and cartoonist who lives in Frampton. She is writing a book about big cats and has created the Dorset Big Cats Register, a free to use website which collects and supplies information about big cats spotted in Dorset.

She would be very grateful if people would pass their sightings to her to add to the database.

"No matter how insignificant the incident seems, or how long ago it took place, everybody's contribution will be very valuable in helping to build up a picture of these elusive creatures."

On her website, Ms Harpur says: "Bridport and its surrounding villages has been something of a hotspot for big cat sightings throughout 2002 and 2003."

Sightings can be reported via the website - www.dorsetbigcats.org, by e-mail - research@dorsetbigcats.org, by post - 1 Southover Cottages, Frampton DT2 9NQ or by telephone - 01300 321316 or 00353 719633690.