One lucky stray cat has been given a second chance at life, thanks to its very own good samaritans.

Basil was living on the streets when he found himself lying on a Carlisle garden with a nasty injury.

The friendly cat suffered a bad break to his femur, which would have cost thousands for a specialist vet to fix.

But thanks to Paragon vet Graham Lewis, and health care worker Emma, loveable Basil was rescued, and given the life he deserves.

Emma said: “My daughter was playing in the garden and he appeared out of the greenhouse dragging his leg.

"The whole leg was floppy and he was obviously in a lot of pain.”

Although the clinic had finished for the day, Dalston's Paragon Veterinary Group saw Basil immediately, putting him under anaesthetic to examine him.

After a thorough examination, it was bad news for the stray, as he required a complicated operation usually carried out by orthopaedic specialists, and weeks of post-operative care.

But animal-lover Mr Lewis couldn't turn his back on Basil, and decided to carry out the operation – for the first time – at a reduced fee, with Emma paying the bills and nursing the cat back to health.

“I was prepared to foot the bill and keep him for the recovery,” Emma said.

“I had to think about it, but the thing is he is a young cat and he is well otherwise and it was only fair to give him a chance. I couldn’t have put him to sleep.”

Mr Lewis said: “If he was a pet, we would have been sending him to an orthopaedic specialist, but that would cost certainly a couple of thousand pounds.

“But we managed to do it at a fair discount, just charging for the stuff we used.”

The operation involved putting a metal pin into the bone to join the break, and a metal frame called an external fixator to hold everything in place while it healed.

And after eight weeks confined to a crate in his new home, the external fixator was removed, and Basil was once again free to roam.

Mr Lewis was relieved and delighted the procedure went to plan, and said: “This procedure hasn’t been done in my time at Paragon – it’s not something we would normally do.

“This was the best option for this cat, and pretty much his only option. It’s not the only case recently where we have had to push our boundaries a fair bit!”

Basil loves his new home, and spends his days playing with Emma and her daughter – and they couldn't be more pleased to have welcomed the new furry friend into their lives.

“I didn’t know if he would just run off when I let him out again, but he didn’t, he stayed with us,” Emma said.

“He is really playful. He chases pen tops and my daughter’s toys.

“He is a very lucky cat – [if] another person had found him, or another vet not as keen to pursue it, he would have been put to sleep.”