DNA tests have proved conclusively that hairs found in Hemingby are those of a wild cat belonging to the leopard family.
And the Horncastle News is happy to hand over a £100 reward to Sandy and Julie Richardson for their authenticated images of the beast
In July this year, Sandy ventured into the caravan at the end of his garden to get a spare spring for his lawnmower.
He said: "I was looking along the shelves when I felt something staring at me. I turned around and this big cat was right beside me. It's eyes were like orange street lights."
The beast opened its mouth in a soundless snarl: "I could see its big brown teeth and it started to move towards me. I backed out the door and managed to shut it."
Sandy called to his wife Julie, but as she approached the door, the cat shot out and ran away through the undergrowth.
The next day Sandy spotted the cat in the window of the caravan and managed to capture some footage of it.
As a result wild cat experts, a team of armed response police officers and vets descended on the house in Green Lane in a bid to catch the creature. The fire brigade were called to examine the caravan using heat seeking equipment.
Neighbours were told to stay indoors while the police and experts were at work, and although the cat was not found in the lair, hairs were later gathered by the police and taken to a laboratory in Essex.
The results are now back and prove conclusively that the hairs were from a member of the big cat family.
Police are investigating a claim that big cats were released from a private zoo in the Horncastle area several years ago.