CAMERAMAN Daniel Bamping is spearheading a national campaign to track down panthers in the British countryside.

The Bolton-born photographer is launching a society dedicated to proving that the sightings of big cats, such as the 'Beast of Bodmin' are not just figments of the imagination.

Daniel, who is now a deep sea underwater photographer, is co-ordinating a campaign to sniff out the panthers which, it is claimed, have been sighted as close to home as Rivington.

The British Cats in the Countryside Society will be officially launched on June 16 -- with 75 members.

Daniel, who now lives in Devon and runs his own Future Planet photography company, became fascinated with the creatures after a sighting eight years ago.

Daniel, a former Thornleigh Salesian College student, said: "I was travelling on a train from Kent to South Wales. The train was moving slowly and I saw a black panther. It was a rural area. I watched it jump over a fence and saw the sheer size of it and its tail. You couldn't mistake it for a common moggie. I have no doubt whatsoever that it was a wild panther."

Daniel claims panthers are presenting a real danger.

He explained: "The panther is not just confined to Bodmin. They are all over. Some have been sighted as far as Scotland.

"There has even been a sighting on the outskirts of Bolton, a couple of years ago. Nothing is impossible."

Daniel is hoping to set up trigger cameras across the country in a bid to finally produce photographic evidence that the panther exists. He said: "They are nocturnal animals and live to be elusive."

Daniel's thirst for adventure has even taken him to Loch Ness, in the search for Nessie.

And he has travelled far flung corners of the globe in his quest to seek unusual pictures.

One of his next "missions" is to prove that dinosaurs exist underwater in deep oceans -- and he hopes to bring back the picture that will stun the world.

Daniel , who qualified as a film-maker, said: "I have other projects, but at the moment I'm concentrating on the panthers."

Details of the society are available by visiting the internet site britishbigcats.com