Cat that travelled hundreds of miles rescued in Plymouth by local window cleaner

A window cleaner from Plymouth says he has had a lot of strange calls, but was left "baffled" about how a cat got onto a ledge of a university building - after travelling more than 300 miles.

Aaron Griffiths, owner of A.G's Reach and Wash Window Cleaning Services, was called to rescue the cat, which turned out to be from Suffolk.

He said:"I got this random phone call asking if I would mind coming into the city to rescue a cat.

"They said they'd pay me, but I didn't want to take money.

"I love pets - I've got two parrots, four dogs and a cat. So I said I'd be there in half an hour, go there, put up the ladder, rescued the cat and off I went.

"I must admit, it baffled me how it got there. The folks who turned up were lovely, bless them, saying I was like a hero, but like I said, I love pets. It was sat right on the end of the ledge and wouldn't move."

A passerby spotted the pet sitting motionless on a ledge at one of the entrances of the Plymouth University Roland Levinsky building on Monday afternoon (24 April).

They alerted their friend Jo Bobbie who said that she immediately "went into cat-mum mode" and went to help.

The 30-year-old said she spoke with the reception staff who were unaware of the stuck cat which Jo said had apparently been in the same position on the narrow ledge for three hours.

Jo said: "I alerted the Plymouth University Estate team but they couldn't do anything as they didn't have the right kind of ladder which would safely reach it."

Despite making some tasty attempts to coax the feline down, Aarons said it couldn't be persuaded.

He said: "People had tried using Dreamies [biscuits] but it wouldn't budge.

"I've had a lot of strange phone calls being a window cleaner, but that's definitely the strangest call I've ever had".

Jo Bobbie, who later posted about what had happened on a Facebook page which helps reunite missing pets with their owners, said: "A lady took it to the vets and they said to her 'You're not going to believe it - it's from Ipswich'.

"It turns out the parents of a student had come down to visit their daughter and this cat must have stowed away in their car and then somehow got out.

"It's an indoor cat so the poor thing must have been absolutely terrified, which is why it was frozen to the ledge and wouldn't move.

"Thankfully, the owners collected it later the same day, so it all ended well."