A COUPLE sparked mystery among North Berwick residents after spotting an unidentifiable 'beast' near the town this week.

Amanda Beevers Owen said she was travelling from North Berwick, and had just passed Tantallon Castle on Sunday afternoon, when they spotted a "large black animal" crossing the road.

She added: "It wasn't a cow or a horse.

"It was much larger than a dog and crossed the road in about four strides."

In a post on the North Berwick News page on Facebook, she added they were unable to stop toidentify the animal due to traffic.

She added: "A blue car travelling the other way stopped as he obviously saw the same thing.

"We are intrigued as to what this was."

Among the replies on the social media site was the term "the beast", while Pat Morris said: "Probably a roe deer buck against the light - silhouetted.

"There is a field with some black goats along there - but they are not very big."