Last updated 09:40, Tuesday, 18 November 2008

An adventurous cat is believed to have hitched a ride of more than 100 miles from Teesside to Carlisle under a freight train.

Senior animal welfare officer Jackie Ruddick at The Animals Refuge, near Carlisle, with the un-named cat

The animal was discovered by a fitter at Kingmoor depot, when he examined an empty carriage which had returned from Billingham.

The white and tortoiseshell female survived unscathed by clinging to a ledge on the underside of the train.

Although shaken and dirty, the cat escaped injury and is now in the care of an animal sanctuary at Wetheral, Carlisle.

Nikki Diebel, of The Animals’ Refuge, Oak Tree Farm, said: “The staff say it’s a lovely cat – it is very friendly and quiet. Apparently it’s not been fazed at all by its journey.”

In the two weeks since it was found, staff have been contacting refuges in the north east in an attempt to track down its owners.

“If we can’t find its owners then we’ll re-home it here, but I think we’re giving it a bit longer than we would normally. We’d rather it went back to them than they didn’t know where it was.”

The cat, who appears to be about one year old, caused quite a stir at the depot when it was found there earlier this month.

Linda Ridley, of Direct Rail Services, said the first thing they heard was a mewing noise coming from the empty carriage.

She said: “The fitter had a look under the vehicle and on a ledge there was the cat. From the state she was in it was obvious she had come a long way.”

The empty train, which was returning from a maintenance visit to Billingham, had only stopped once more at Darlington.

She added: “It took him a long time to get it off the train because it was very scared. We took it to the security cabin and gave it some food, and then we called the refuge.”