8:54am Friday 9th May 2008
WORKERS at a Worcester motorbike shop were shocked to find a cat inside the showroom - but even more surprised to discover it had travelled 90 miles in a day.
Staff at Skellerns Motorcycle in Sidbury discovered the cat when they opened yesterday. Initially, they spotted it had left a mess in front of the display cabinets and then they heard cries coming from a cupboard. Service manager Martin Reeves said: "The cat was wearing a name tag which had a phone number on it, and when we rang the owner we found out she lived in Leicester, which is about 90 miles away from Worcester."
As the owner works out how to travel from Leicester to fetch her pet, it remains a mystery how the black cat, called Panther, made the journey. "It is a very friendly cat," said Mr Reeves. "We are not sure what we are going to do with it if she is not able to come soon. But we have no idea how it got here as the owner said it only went missing yesterday."
Panther's owner, Beth Rushton, said she had no idea how her pet managed to travel to Worcester.
Dr Rushton added: "He went out yesterday morning before having his breakfast and then he just didn't come back. I don't know how he managed to get there. Perhaps he found his way on to a lorry." Dr Rushton was hoping to pick Panther up yesterday evening.