A classroom assistant and about a dozen children saw the creature prompting the head teacher to send a letter to parents.

The incident happened on Tuesday morning at Balcombe School and has given the mystery of big cats in Sussex more authority.

It is also one of the rare sightings of big cats to be witnessed by more than one person.

In his letter, head teacher Terry Harris said: "Since the sighting we have informed the police, who are currently investigating the location of the sighting, secured the perimeter of the school and informed Balcombe Estate."

Classroom assistant Rosemary Robertson saw the creature while in the fenced playground with the school's new intake of reception class children, aged four.

Mrs Robertson said: "It was like a ginger tom but three times the size and it made this terrible growling noise.

"The reason I know it was not a domestic cat was because of that awful sound.

"I have looked up on websites since and it was definately the sound a puma makes."

For the full story see this week's Mid Sussex Times.