Woody the cat rescued by crew from Market Deeping Fire Station

As Christmas gifts go, a full-size fire engine complete with crew is pretty impressive.

But that’s exactly what Robin and Jenny Jones received when their beloved marble Bengal cat Woody went missing.

The four-year-old feline never usually leaves his home in Baston, but on Monday last week (December 16) he escaped and went for a walkabout on his own.

Having woken up to find Woody missing, Robin and his wife ‘turned the house upside down’ looking for him before extending their search around the village.

“We hunted high and low and took the house apart, then spent the whole of Monday and most of Tuesday looking for him and putting up missing cat posters,” said Robin, who edits Heritage Railway magazine.

“We gave our search one last try and walked up to King Street and suddenly, despite the noise from the traffic, we heard a distinctive miaow from the mass of undergrowth by the stream that runs alongside the road.

“Woody was obviously distressed and when he saw us he jumped into the stream and swam but he got tangled in the undergrowth.

“I didn’t even know he could swim.”

Unable to reach Woody, Jenny and Robin rang a vet for advice, who said the RSPCA might be able to rescue him. On calling the charity, they advised that the fire and rescue service might be a better bet under the circumstances.

“I’ve never called the fire and rescue service in my life,” said Robin, “but from the moment the crew arrived they were brilliant. I can’t sing their praises enough.”

Robin fetched a cat carrier while members of the crew from Market Deeping Fire Station negotiated the steep incline to the side of King Street and the undergrowth down to the water.

With the light fading and two hours having passed since Robin and Jenny first heard Woody’s plaintive miaows, their pet was finally extracted ready to be returned home.

“Woody is a cat who has never been out before,” said Robin. “He had wandered, couldn’t find his way back and was terrified. It was only by chance that we found him where he was, after 40 hours of searching.”

Once back inside with fellow house cat Gizmo, a Devon rex, Woody soon returned to his favourite spot - next to a radiator.

“It’s great to have him home for Christmas,” said Robin.

“I can’t thank the members of the fire crew enough for their help.”