THOMAS Hardy would be amused.

His Victorian villa on the outskirts of Dorchester is not only attracting tourists but now, apparently, a big cat as well.

Max Gate, where Hardy wrote Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Jude the Obscure and The Mayor of Casterbridge has become the latest location to be noted in the Dorset Echo's big cat diary.

A Dorchester resident told police he saw a tabby cat "the size of a large Labrador with pointed ears" in Allington Avenue late at night.

The animal glared at him before scaling the wall of Hardy's famous home and disappearing into the night.

There have been several sightings of a lynx-like creature in the past fortnight but they have all been reported over the Ridgeway in Weymouth. Wildlife experts say a lynx is capable of existing in the area, and that it would roam over a wide patch of ground.

Hardy designed Max Gate and lived in the house from 1885 until his death in 1928.

Andrew and Marilyn Leah have been the tenants of the National Trust property since 1994, when the couple were

responsible for opening it to the public for the first time. The big cat sighting bewildered Mr Leah, who said: "It's news to me, I can't say I've seen anything myself.

"We do have a cat called Henry who is the star of the National Trust tea towel, but he's 16 and ambles around the grounds agedly.

"I can't imagine him leaping over walls at all."

Mr Leah added: "We do get animals in the grounds but they're usually other cats or deer.

"I suppose I shall have to carry a pitchfork around with me now."

PC Paul Holman said the man who reported the sighting was scared by what he saw.

He said: "We took the report seriously and searched the area but nothing was found.

"It's impossible to say whether this was a wild animal.

"What we would say is that anyone who sees a big cat should not approach it or attempt to give it food, and report the sighting to police."