A driver got a shock when he had a brush with the fabled Beast of Essex on a county road.
Chris Rushton, 20, a photographic technician with the Evening Gazette, was travelling along the Stratford Road towards Dedham to pick up a friend.
Just as he approached the turn near the Talbooth restaurant, a black beast bigger than a dog but with the tail of a cat strayed across his path.
Shocked: Chris Rushton
Caught in the headlights, the beast stared back at Chris before making its escape across fields north of Colchester.
He said: "Just as I turned the corner, the headlights caught this object.
"It ran from right to left, was big and black - too big to be a dog and way too big to be a cat but with a tail like a cat.
"It ran across the road and stopped on the grass verge and looked at me."
The beast then ran off into a nearby field.
When Chris got out to have a closer look, it was nowhere to be seen after the sighting at about 10pm on Friday.
He said: "It was all very quick, I didn't have time to think. I realised it wasn't an ordinary fox you expect to see - it was a bit of a shock."
It has been about six months since the beast, which is said to look like a panther, was last spotted in Silver End, near Witham.
The Beast of Essex is set to make its debut on the silver screen after a pair of budding film makers from Colchester scripted a short piece on it last year.
Published Wednesday, January 29, 2003
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