Mysterious creature, said to be as big as a puma, spotted three times since Friday

Big-cat investigators on the trail of the ever-elusive Beast of Buchan have been bolstered by a series of possible sightings over the weekend.

The mysterious creature, said to be as big as a puma, has been seen three times since Friday night.

All of the sightings have been within a few miles of each other, just west of Fraserburgh.

Although the legendary animal has been seen several times over the years, it is unusual to have so many reported sightings in such a short time.

The news has bolstered big-cat investigators in Scotland who now want to set up a webcam to try to get the first official shots of the beast.

It was first seen at around 9pm on Friday by Sandhaven woman Fiona Clark.

She was getting a lift home after visiting a friend at Pitullie, on the Buchan coast.

"We were walking to the car when we were stopped in our tracks," she said.

"There was a strange smell in the air, it was very hard to describe. It made us lift our heads up so we were facing a drystane dyke just a few feet away. I couldn't believe what I saw."

Walking beside the wall - known locally as the fisherman's dyke - was the so-called beast.

"I had never seen anything like it," she said.

"It was black and looked like a puma. It was amazing to see its strength and agility when it leaped over the wall and away from us."

Miss Clark said she realised non-believers might find her tale hard to swallow, adding: "I know we were very lucky to see what we had seen."

"By the way," she said, "we had only been drinking cups of tea that night."

Miss Clark, of Pittendrum Gardens, followed the beast along the rural stretch, but lost sight of it in the dark.

By coincidence, a family friend later told her a similar creature had been seen lurking in trees near the churchyard at Tyrie Castle on Saturday morning.

The friend had seen it while travelling to Banff.

She also heard that the cat had been seen later that day near Peathill, south of Rosehearty.

"Its a spectacular looking creature," she said, "but I wouldn't want to get too close to it.

"I think it's important that farmers know this thing is out and about. They're going to have to be extra vigilant to protect their livestock.

"The cat we saw looked very healthy, so its obviously feeding well on something."

The Beast of Buchan is thought to have appeared dozens of times in recent years.

The last sighting was at Cruden Bay, near Peterhead, in summer 2007, when a black animal was seen prowling through a wood.

A year earlier, farmer Jim Cantlay, of Nether Broadmuir Farm, near the coastal Buchan village, discovered the grisly remains of brutally-savaged sheep - thought to be the work of the beast.

And in 2004, the creature was blamed for the grisly death of a calf on a farm near Pennan.

Big-cat tracker Mark Fraser said three sightings over one weekend was "encouraging".

He said: "The rural north-east of Scotland is an ideal habitat for these big cats. There's plenty of deer and rabbits up there for them to live off."

He said the Aberdeenshire corner also offered a relatively dry climate and plenty of wooded rural patches which make for ideal habitats.

Mr Fraser, a member of the Big Cats in Britain (BCIB) investigative group, said: "The trouble is nobody is really sure what this creature is. If it was black, then it was more likely to be a leopard, not a puma. What we are keen to do is set up a webcam in the area where there have been a number of sightings.

"People will be able to use their computers to help spot these animals."

He added: "At the moment, we are appealing to any landowners who can offer us a good location for a camera - one where it won't get stolen or vandalised."

Between 2000 and 2006, there have been nearly 200 sightings of big cats reported by the public to Scottish police forces. Grampian was the most active with 55 reports, followed by Fife with 42.

Other hotspots include Lothian with 30 sightings and 27 in Strathclyde.