A cat which vanished from his Norwich home two months ago has been reunited with his owner after turning up five miles away on the other side of the city.

Rossco's remarkable adventure began at the end of March when he went missing from Borrowdale Drive, near Heartsease.

His owner, Tara Kelf, put posters up around the neighbourhood and appealed for information about his whereabouts on the internet.

But her search turned up no leads until May 22 when she was contacted by the RSPCA to tell her the animal had been found by security guards at the UEA, hiding under a bush.

Miss Kelf, a cleaner at Heartsease High School, said her pet had only gone missing once before – just for one night – and believes Rossco may have been taken by thieves.

The eight-year-old is a valuable Bengal cat, worth around £400 – a breed which is known to be a target for criminals.

After having no theories as to where Rossco could have gone or how he made the long trek to the UEA, Miss Kelf was shocked when she got the call to say he had been found.

'Rossco went missing in late March/early April. We put posters everywhere but when we didn't hear anything we feared the worst,' she said. 'I burst into tears when I got the call.

'Rossco had only ever been missing for one night. He always comes home in the morning for his breakfast.

'When he didn't, that's when I knew he had gone missing.

'I have no idea where he would have gone to or how he got all the way to the UEA as he never usually wanders too far from home.'

Despite being missing for two months, Rossco was fine apart from being underweight and suffering from a few fleas.

The cat had been microchipped before he vanished, and it was this technology which allowed the RSPCA to trace his owner.

The organisation said the case highlighted the importance of animals being microchipped.

'This really goes to show the benefits of microchipping your pet.

'You never know when you might need it,' said animal collection officer Nicola Sullivan.

'These are the jobs we enjoy doing and it is great there was a happy ending in this case and that Rossco was able to be reunited with his owner.'