Britain’s very own Bigfoot may be roaming one of our national parks, terrified locals say.

Fishermen making late-night visits to an idyllic lake in South Downs have revealed that a “growling” creature patrols the area and has been spotted escaping down a “dangerous” hill. “No human” would dare venture the incline, with anglers concluding the strange noises and bumps in the night are the result of an elusive creature.

Members of the Cryptid and Paranormal Investigations group on Facebook observed multiple instances of close calls with a creature so evil that it made the fishermen up sticks and depart straight away, The Daily Star reports.

Mike Brown claimed: “I felt incredibly on edge and it was a feeling I can honestly say I had never experienced before or since. It really was as if something was watching me and I was not welcome.”

Fellow group member Michael Brindle says he experienced a similar feeling when fishing on the banks of the UK’s national park, adding he encountered “something large running on what I think was two legs on the opposite bank in the darkness”. Those unnerving stomps in the wilderness prompted Michael to pack up and scarper after he felt “the hairs on my arms” stand up. “I was dozing on my chair next to the rods when I was woken by a loud growl from the opposite bank,” he said.

While neither man saw the creature, they remain convinced it was not a prank or woodland creature. “I hope to never hear it again,” Michael added.