A mysterious big cat has been spotted roaming wild for the second time in one week.

Jeni Banks was driving home when she spotted the large panther-like creature amble across the road in front of her.

The incident is just the latest in a string of sightings said to have taken place in Cumbria.

Jeni had been travelling along the Eastern Way in Carlisle on her way to Wetheral, Cumbria, when all of a sudden the big cat appeared.

To the left of the road were houses and beyond the pavement to the right was an area of woodland.

Are big cat sightings just a case of mistaken identity? Watch this video and make up your own mind.

Jeni, 26, said: "It was not quite dark, but gloomy enough for me to need my sidelights on.

"I thought it looked like a big black Labrador because of its size, but as my car drew level with it I looked again.

"I stared in disbelief as the creature stood at the roadside, its head turned back towards my car.

"Its eyes gleamed in the headlights and it had an elongated black body and a long curling tail.

"I saw it as clear as anything.

"I was within 20ft of it, and when I saw it I was in shock.

"It was a big cat, right here in Carlisle, beside the road and it was just surreal.

"There were no other cars around but I know what I saw.

"I called in for some shopping at Tesco and told the woman on the checkout, I've just seen a panther.

"She must have thought that I was mad.

"As soon as I got home I rang the police and told them what I had seen because the creature was so near to houses.

"They were very nice about it and said they would log it with the other sightings."

Like many who have reported big cat sightings Jeni had never expected to see such a large and exotic animal running wild on the border of a northern English city.

Just last week bus driver Steven Allison, 32, saw a black panther like creature in a field near Rockcliffe village, north of Carlisle.

And two weeks ago mum-of-four, Sharon Larkin, 39, took a photograph of what she believes is the elusive creature's paw print.

She said: "I have been looking into panther sightings for some time now.

"There have been big cat sightings in the Stainburn area near Workington – some in July last year and some over the last couple of weeks.

"It has been seen in a field near the road that goes past the Briery Hotel.

"I spoke to a dog walker who told me he had seen a panther like creature, bigger than a Labrador dog.

"It was crouching in the field, in the afternoon, just watching, and the next minute it looked up and then got up.

"To begin with he thought it might have been a dog, but when it stood up he saw its long tail curled up at the end, which is the classic sign of a panther."

Sharon has spent hours watching and waiting in the area, armed with a camcorder, hoping for a glimpse of the big cat.

Two weeks ago, in a muddy lane near the Stainburn bypass, she discovered what she believes could be the first tangible evidence of the panther.

She found a distinctive paw print, its size markedly bigger than that of a cat or even a large dog.

She said: "I am absolutely convinced there is a creature out there. It has been seen in Stainburn, Ennerdale, Arlecdon, and now Rockcliffe.

"These big cats cover a radius of about 40 miles so it could be the same animal."

Mr Allison, 32, reported seeing a panther like creature as he drove towards Rockcliffe just before 8am last Tuesday (FEB 14).

His account came just over two years after similar reports of a large puma like cat seen prowling on waste-ground near The Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle.