A WOMAN has described seeing a lynx in Uley woods on Friday night.

Kasia from Nailsworth was making her way home after work at around 10.20pm.

She drove past the Crown pub in Uley, and then came to the bottom of Crawley Hill where there is a sharp bend.

About 5 meters further on she made the sighting.

She said: "I was driving through Uley woods and I saw an animal prowling right by the side of the road.

"I couldn't work out what it was.

"I saw chunky, padded back legs and a short upturned tail.

"The back legs were clearly longer, so it was moving in a way that no other animal I've seen would move.

"I was fascinated and I slowed down, almost coming to a stop.

"When it eventually crossed the road I could clearly see the cat face and tufted ears.

"It was the a size of a medium dog, bigger and much more chunky than a domestic cat.

"It's legs were padded and chunky. It moved in a very specific way, as the back legs were longer.

"And there was a softness in the way it moved - which made me think it must be young - in the way that young dogs and cats are more 'bouncy' in the way they move, than adults."

"I was stunned, I couldn't believe my eyes."

Commenting on the sighting, Gloucestershire big cat expert Frank Tunbridge said: "From the description they gave it sounds very much like a lynx, or a bob-cat, they're both from the same family.

"We know there's lynx out there - I'm following up a lynx siting at the moment, in the Forest of Dean.

"Lynx are very secretive animals, they're more rarely seen than other big cats.

"A couple of years ago Wotton district councillor Ken Tucker saw a lynx type animal crossing the road, further up the road from there, at Coaley Peak, crossing the road. So it all ties in.

"At this time of year especially, large carnivores like lynx are entering a mating period and so they're going out looking for mates and are more active, and you're more likely to see them now."