The beast lives on - that is the opinion of Falmouth man John Ostins, who is the latest in a line of people claiming to have seen the town's mysterious " beast."

Mr Ostins, who is studying boat building at Falmouth Marine School, contacted the Packet to say that, at the risk of sounding "daft" he had also seen something resembling the unusual creature first revealed on the Packet website thepacket.co.uk and featured in the paper that week.

At the time Falmouth Watersports Centre worker Sam Bradbury claimed to have seen an animal that resembled a cross between a lion, a fox and a kangaroo.

Mr Ostins, from Tregenver Road, claims to have seen the beast in the second week of January - but has been too embarrassed to come forward until now.

He had been walking his dog Oggy on the coastal path between Swanpool and Maenporth at around 5pm when his pet started barking loudly ahead before going "absolutely ballistic" with his shackles up.

Mr Ostins said: "Just as we rounded the bend in the path I briefly saw up ahead a weird looking animal hopping into a gorse bush. I didn't see it for long, but I can say that it was jet black with a long, bushy tail like I'd imagine a racoon to have, and bigger in size than my Labrador. It also seemed to be moving on two hind legs."

Oggy went to the bush where the creature rushed to but, unusually, appeared reluctant to go in and look for the animal, which then disappeared.

"It sounds so far fetched and unbelievable that for weeks I kind of made myself believe that it was a dog or something and I completely dismissed it, until I saw the articles in the paper," added Mr Ostins.

Have you seen the beast recently? Perhaps you have a photo of it? Contact the Packet at editorial@packetseries.co.uk, call 01326 213341 or leave a comment below.