The Beast of Longis Common...

YOU'VE heard of the Beast of Bodmin, now get ready for the Beast of Longis Common.

Three Alderney residents have reported sightings of a large black cat-like creature on Longis, surrounded by several outsize kittens.

Helen Ackrill, Jane Page and Dilla Wright all reported seeing the large animal.

The last sighting was on Tuesday at about 3pm. Ms Ackrill said she saw the animal when acting as a marshal for the Alderney Week Fun Run close to the bird hide at Longis Common.

'It was black and about the size of a fox and maybe 200m away from me,' said Ms Ackrill. 'First of all I saw this huge thing, the size of a large fox, and then three young who were gambolling about exactly as kittens do.

'They were much bigger than normal-sized kittens, though. When I saw them I was talking to Dilla, who had her back to me. I thought I was seeing things. Then she turned around and saw it too.'

Roland Gauvain, manager of Alderney Wildlife Trust, said he had not received any other reports of such creatures roaming Longis Common. 'There are a number of large feral cats in that part of the island,' he said. 'But we have not had any reports of any animals there of the dimensions described.'

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They say Alderney is 50 years behind the times, but that can't be said of the island's Georgian House.

It is jumping on the 'pop-up' bandwagon to launch an atmospheric one-night-only banquet at the Victorian Fort Raz on Raz Island.

Pop-up restaurants and shops, all the rage in the UK, involve businesses setting up in unusual locations for a month, a week or even a day.

On Thursday 23 August, the chefs at the Georgian House will serve a champagne reception and four courses of locally sourced foods against a backdrop of stars and candlelight and with acoustic music from a three-piece band.

Fort Raz is joined to Alderney via a precarious causeway, which disappears completely at high tide. Guests will be rowed across.

The Victorian fort was once home to a restaurant and is currently undergoing renovation.

Holly Fisher, the Georgian House's general manager, got the idea after an evening spent on Raz back in June when chefs prepared fish and chips for the Wildlife Trust conference.

'The setting is just far too spectacular to waste,' she said. 'It will be an intimate evening with long trestle tables, plenty of wine and candlelight. We are really excited about it.'