LIFE is purr-fect again for Billie the cat following a life-saving operation paid for by staff at her adopted home - Kidderminster's bus depot.

Billie showed up at the former New Road depot three years ago and became such a favourite she joined workers when they moved to their new centre on the Worcester Road traffic island last year. Billie the cat with Sandy Stockton, Kidderminster bus depot secretary.

So when the puss became seriously down in the mouth due to an ulcerated gum and jaw, staff stumped up £100 in just 48 hours for the vet's bill.

And when the moggy's problems proved more serious - requiring blood tests and the extraction of eight teeth - they chipped in almost another £100 to make sure she was soon back on the road to recovery.

Billie is now getting a well-deserved 48 winks in the office of depot secretary Sandy Stockton who said: "Despite what some people may say about bus drivers, the Kidderminster depot lads have proved to be sensitive and charitable, responding to the call for help for their little four-legged friend.

"We are all a bunch of softies really."