An animal that 'thudded' across the roof of a house in Thornbury is posited to have been a big cat.

Last week's sighting occurred in the Grovesend Road area of the town.

A post on the Spotted in Thornbury Facebook page stated: "Something thudded across our roof just now (made one hell of a noise).

"Our cats ran and hid in terror. Chris went out and caught sight of what looked like a very large cat (fox size or larger) which was on our roof (single storey) and jumped from there over the wall into our neighbour's garden.

"It was not black - probably brown with a non bushy tail, definitely not your average cat."

One commenter said: "Big black cats have been sighted around the area (not in town as far as I know but towards Kington Lane and the river).

"We saw one last summer in Kington...but definitely black and panther-sized.

Other suggestions were that the creature could have been a Maine Coon, the largest domesticated cat breed, or a fox.

One commenter said: "It probably was a fox. We have them Park Farm area most nights lately and last week a couple were going in and out of gardens on Alexandra Way.

There have been a number of sightings of big cats in the Thornbury area in recent years, including one in Elberton in October.

Last year documnentary makers said new photographs proved the existence of big cats in Gloucestershire.

Have you seen a big cat in the Thornbury area recently? Get in touch.