Missing purr-son stows away in police car

In fact, not only did the “missing purrrr-son” hide in the vehicle, she probably also fell asleep in her warm and cosy spot, because she managed to stay safely stowed away until the van returned to the police station, some five hours after she first climbed onboard.

But even then, this little girl wasn’t “resisting a rest” and didn’t want her great adventure to end, because it was another 12 hours before she finally “bailed” and announced her presence in the Ashbourne police station carpark, with some “fur-ball” abuse, mewling loudly when community police officer Rachel Baggaley arrived for her morning shift.

“I can’t believe she survived, to be honest,” said PC Baggaley, who was unwittingly responsible for the plucky kitten’s big trip.

“I’d only stopped at the house on a routine visit and I’d been playing with her so when I went to leave I checked under the van and near the wheels before driving off, but there was no sign of her.

“I must have driven more than 40 miles with her hidden onboard, I even stopped at another house for around an hour.

“I think she must have been very comfortable in her hiding spot because she didn’t make any effort to escape.

“When my shift finished, about five hours later, I parked up in the station car park and headed home.

“The next morning I arrived at work and heard a very loud meowing, and the little kitten came running out of one of the old cells.

“I think she’d had enough of her adventure and was ready to go home!

“It certainly brought a whole new meaning to the term station cat.”

The kitten, who was originally called Harrison, will now be renamed by her owner, 55-year-old Doug Harrison, but he said he can’t quite decide between Panda and Lucky.

“She’s full of life and quite feisty at times,’ he said, “so I’m not surprised she survived her adventure, but I was very relieved to see her when PC Baggaley brought her back to me the next day.

“I was worried she might have been run over, or tried to escape because normally she stays very close to home.

“But when I heard where she had been I was amazed. That’s quite the journey for such a tiny kitten.

“So now she’ll probably be known as Panda, as she escaped in a police car, or perhaps Lucky, as I still can’t believe how far she travelled in the van without getting hurt, or worse.

“But thankfully she’s none the worse for her adventure, although we will be keeping a much closer eye on her next time we have visitors.”