THE LID has been lifted on Ripley and Heanor’s own X-Files after an investigation by the News. 

A Freedom of Information Request put in to Derbyshire police has unearthed a number of strange 999 calls in the area over the last five years.

And the findings show that the villages around Ripley and Heanor are veritable big cat hotspots.

In June, 2006, a caller from South Wingfield rang police to say they had seen a large black panther-like creature that walked across the road and through a hedge into a field near to their house.

In May, 2010, a frightened motorist dialled 999 saying they had seen a large black panther like creature that trotted in front of their car before disappearing in Nether Heage.

And in May of this year, an aghast caller from Crich stated that they and their neighbour had seen a large panther or lynx in their garden and a nearby field.

Danny Bamping, founder of the Big Cat Society, which looks into the existence of such creatures in the British Isles, said Derbyshire and Amber Valley have been a definite hotspot for sightings.

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