Leopards, lynxes and pumas are roaming freely across the Sussex countryside and people are becoming less afraid to report them, new research has suggested.

The British Big Cats Society (BBCS) revealed there were 50 sightings in Sussex between January and March this year.

A total of 2,052 big or exotic cats were spotted UK-wide in the past 12 months, the equivalent of four per day, and the South-West of England was the hotspot with 21 per cent of sightings.

Experts have said Sussex's countryside is a perfect location for big cats to live, with a ready supply of deer, sheep and rabbits on which to feast.

In the past 12 months, sightings have been reported in Polegate, Mid Sussex and Portslade - where people dubbed the animal the "Portslade Panther".

A creature, described as looking like a lynx, was sighted in woodland near Polegate and another cat, possibly a black puma, was spotted near Burgess Hill.

Bryan Hale, an amateur cryptozoologist, has used sightings as the basis for a book about big cats in Sussex.

Mr Hale, of Lodge Lane, Keymer, said: "In the past, people wouldn't admit to seeing big cats because they didn't want to be lumped together with Loch Ness monster loons.

"Now it's respectable. I've had letters from doctors, lawyers, farmers and people who would gain nothing from making it up."

Experts at the BBCS are calling on ministers to back a full UK-wide scientific investigation into sightings of big cats in rural Britain.

BBCS founder Danny Bamping said: "The evidence has been increasing and becoming clearer."