A person dressed in a catsuit has been terrorising locals after being spotted stalking people along secluded paths and reportedly leaping out from behind gravestones.
The mysterious figure, dressed in a skin-tight black cat suit and mask, was captured on camera meowing and writhing on the ground near Wallasey Beach, Merseyside.
Footage shows the person wriggling under a fence near a Harvester pub in the Wirral before prancing along a path.
Another video shows people in a car screaming as the figure approaches close by.
Residents claim he resembles a ‘banshee,’ ‘urban jaguar’ and even a ‘gimp’ and locals like Abbie Gilbert have said the community are trying to hunt ‘him or it’ down.
But Abbie said she saw the funny side and told Metro: ‘I really found the whole thing quite amusing and I can’t believe how many people in Wirral have also had encounters and are aware of him.
‘From everyone’s sightings, the Pantherman is harmless although he does look scary. I really don’t think he’s dangerous, just a bit strange.’
The mystery man is the talk of the town as locals update each other on the latest sightings.
‘The community has gone mental with it,’ she added.
A photo that she took and posted shows him walking up a hill, illuminated by torchlight.
‘Everyone and their nan seems to have seen him, and there are loads of posts as people are trying to hunt him or it down.
‘I don’t know about more recent incidents but there are people saying he’s jumped out from behind gravestones at Earlston Cemetery.’
Another local told the BBC that she also noticed the strange figure when she was walking her dog.
When she shone her torchlight on the figure she saw the man crawling up the hill on all fours.
She said: ‘I didn’t feel scared really, he was just waving his arms and making panther noises. I felt more confused than scared.’
Other locals made light of the situation on Facebook: ‘I went through a stage of doing this year’s ago but I’ve now got through it, don’t ask MEOW!’.
Another joked: ‘Hi, this is my cat. He isn’t chipped and is quite skittish, we’ve been missing him for a few days so please don’t approach again. We’re hoping he comes back home soon, my wife’s boyfriend is worried sick’.
Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell said she hoped anyone with concerns would report them to the police.
Metro has contacted Merseyside Police for comment.
The person bears a striking similarity to the ‘Somerset gimp’ who terrified locals in Bleadon, near Weston-super-Mare, in May 2023.
It was revealed that Joshua Hunt, 32, was the man behind the gimp mask and was banned for five years from wearing masks, dressing in all-in-one black outfits at night and ‘crawling, wriggling or writhing on the ground’.
