by Niki Greig
Caravanners in Essex out making the most of the Bank Holiday were stunned to find that they may have been sharing their spot with a lion.
Denise and Bob Martin, who were staying at the Earl’s Hall Farm Caravan Club site in Clacton-on-Sea, were the first people to spot the large cat.
The couple, from Canvey Island, went out to investigate because they saw smoke coming from a field and thought there was a fire.
“With the naked eye, you could see it was a lion – it was bigger than a German Shepherd, and it was female,” Denise said, “It was too far away for us to be scared. It was looking at us, its ears were twitching. She was quite content to just watch us.”
Mrs Martin’s brother Dave Wright and his wife Sue were staying next to the couple and confirmed the sighting. Whilst watching the ‘lion’ for over half an hour, Dave captured some shots on his digital camera.
However, the site co-owner, Roger Lord has a differing opinion, “I had a look through the binoculars and said ‘that’s a cat’ – it was sitting in stubble that was six to eight inches high and you could just see its head sticking out of the top,” he said.
“I am sceptical – I think it might just well be a large domestic cat but they certainly saw something that they were concerned about and they went down the right route to the police.”
Also staying on the site were Stephen Atkin, 52, and his wife, Gill, who also saw the ‘lion’.
“We witnessed it, I would say, for about 20 to 30 minutes cleaning itself and rolling about in the field,” he said. He said the animal was the length of two sheep “put together”.
The couple handed pictures that they took of the animal to police saying. “We did not think it was a lion as its ears were too pointed but it was really big.”
Essex police and local Colchester Zoo, whose three lions are all accounted for, joined in the search which was called off late last night (27th August) with a statement that concluded that the animal was either a large domestic cat or wildcat.
Police have issued a statement saying: “Public safety is our priority which is why we are taking the sighting and all associated evidence seriously. We have an increased police presence in the area which will offer reassurance to local residents, motorists and holidaymakers.”
