Andy McCarthy, sales manager of DeVries Honda in Scarborough, is convinced what he saw in the field was a panther.

He was driving to work at the time from his home in Loftus and was coming towards Pond Hill.

"I saw this big black thing walking up through the sheep. I realised it wasn't a sheep dog because of the way it was walking and its big black tail," he said.

"I'm 100% convinced it was a panther. The strange thing was the sheep didn't seem bothered and the panther wasn't bothering them."

He said he had previously believed there was something out there, and had spoken to people who had seen it.

Mr McCarthy (34) was travelling along the road at about 7.50am on Wednesday when he made his sighting.

There have been many sightings of the Beast of the Bay over the last few years. You can see an interactive map which pinpoints some of them, along with more details, at www.whitbygazette.co.uk

Have you seen the Beast? E-mail editorial@whitbygazette.co.uk or call our newsdesk on 829910.

You can also text us by sending the message WGEDITOR along with details of the sighting and your name and contact details to 81800 (text charge 25p plus standard network charge; full terms and conditions on page 12).