A cat took four hours to be rescued after being hit by a car and bolting in panic under the bonnet of another.

Eastern Daily Press: Dave the cat is recovering after being hit by a car and stuck in the bonnet of another one for four hours. The RSPCA is appealing to his owners to come forward Picture: RSPCADave the cat is recovering after being hit by a car and stuck in the bonnet of another one for four hours. The RSPCA is appealing to his owners to come forward Picture: RSPCA (Image: Archant)

Paul Cummings, 62, described how he was sitting in a queue of traffic in Nelson Road Central, Great Yarmouth, when the terrified tabby appeared in front of his vehicle.

Having stopped to pick it up, it bolted under the bonnet where it was stubbornly stuck and refused to come out.

Not knowing what to do Mr Cummings said two policemen, who were in the area on another call, stopped to help positioning their patrol car in the road to protect his Nissan Qashqai SUV, which was stranded in the middle of the highway.

The officers then called the RSPCA, who could not free the stricken moggy.

Eastern Daily Press: Paul Cummings with his wife Jane. The 62-year-old's car became the focus of a four-hour rescue mission after a cat got under his bonnet and refused to come out Picture: Paul CummingsPaul Cummings with his wife Jane. The 62-year-old's car became the focus of a four-hour rescue mission after a cat got under his bonnet and refused to come out Picture: Paul Cummings (Image: Archant)

They in turn called the fire service and a crew from Gorleston used air bags to jack up the car, removed the wheel, and grabbed the animal using a long pole with a loop on the end.

The whole rescue mission took some four hours.

'I was only going to B&Q,' said Mr Cummings, an electrician who lives a stone's throw away in York Road.

'But I only got as far as the shop round the corner.

'The two police officers ended up directing traffic for four hours because my car was away from the kerb.

'The cat was well-positioned in the engine.'

Despite the hold-up Mr Cummings said his only concern was for the cat, named Dave by the RSPCA.

Tracy Standcumbe, a housing officer at Great Yarmouth Borough Council, saw the drama unfold at around 10.30am on Tuesday (March 10).

She said: 'I was driving along and I saw this cat hit by a car and it came running to the side of my car and I could see there was something wrong with its legs.

'I turned the car round and all of a sudden it seemed to zig zag across the road.

'A man stopped behind, and it ran up into his car.'

The driver that hit the cat did not stop.

RSPCA collection officer Paige Burnham said: 'This poor cat has really been through a tough time. He was hit by a car in Nelson Road Central on Tuesday before hobbling up the road and crawling into the engine of a stationary car where he got trapped.

'I had to contact the fire service for assistance as there was no way to reach him.

'It took hours to rescue the poor cat with the fire services using lift bags to jack up the car so that I could get a bit closer to get a grasper around him and eventually bring him towards me through the gap.

'I took him straight to the vets who found that although he had no injuries from being hit by the car, he does have two broken knee caps which were previous injuries and would explain why he was slow to cross the road.

'The vets now believe this is a result of a rare congenital disorder rather than a previous impact so this poor cat really has been going through the wars.'

Dave is due to have surgery on Friday (March 13).