A "LARGE black cat" has spooked a young family visiting the county after they made the sighting at a caravan park in North Berwick last month.

The sighting occurred at Tantallon Caravan Park in August and was reported to big cat spotting website pumawatch.co.uk, which records sightings of large cats across the country.

The family spotted the "large black cat" on the walk back from the town to the caravan site, initially believing it to be a dog until it looked in their direction.

Speaking to Puma Watch, the member of the public said: “My partner, myself and my son were walking back from North Berwick to the caravan site; we saw rabbits between the caravans, then suddenly what we initially thought was a black dog appeared.

“But then it turned and looked at us, and we realised it was a large black cat, between knee and hip height.

“When it saw us, it sped up its pace into the nearby bushes.

“We looked for it other nights around the same time, but never saw it again. We also reported it to the caravan site.

“We have cats at home and immediately recognised the way it moved and its shape was definitely a cat.”

About 850 big cats big cat sightings have been reported Scotland in the last 70 years but the elusive nature of the creatures has made many sightings hard to verify.

However, experts have estimated than as many as 500 big cats may roam the UK.

This is the second reported big cat sighting in East Lothian in recent weeks, after reports of a large feline being spotted near Pencaitland in August.