Pet cat safely home after three weeks missing

A family's pet cat that went missing two days after they moved to the Isles of Scilly has been found safe after three weeks.

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Steve and Louise Smethurst arrived on St Mary's from Twickenham in mid-October with their 8-year-old son Arthur, Louise's mum and their cat Zola.

However, Zola left the Jackson's Hill home on their second day and was not seen again until Saturday.

Louise said: "We've been calling him for the last couple of weeks, driving around the industrial estate at night when it's quiet as he tends to hide when it's noisy, and setting a cat trap with tuna to try to lure him in. We just couldn't find him though and were close to giving up.

"Then I had a call a few days ago to say he'd been seen near the dump so I ran down with a pot of yogurt and crouched by the fence, peering under the blue huts and waving the yogurt around, looking a bit of a sight to be honest.

"We moved the trap to our garden and finally, on Saturday afternoon, Steve and Arthur realised Zola was curled up in the trap. He needs feeding up as he's lost a lot of weight and is on antibiotics for a nasty bite, but is very happy to be home."

Louise added: "People have been so very kind keeping an eye out for him and lending us the trap, it's been a lovely welcome!"