A pensioner who suffered a fall and was left stuck, without food and unable to call for help, for six days was finally discovered by a neighbour - who was searching for his missing cat.

Matt Ware had grown concerned over the fate of pet cat Tigger after she disappeared for 24 hours and, on Wednesday, decided to explore his Brundall neighbourhood in a bid to track her down.

With no luck, he decided to go door-to-door - and rang his neighbour's doorbell in case Tigger was in his garden.

'I did consider whether I should ring,' he said, 'and thought maybe I'll leave it and just put posters up.'

But he did - and heard a faint cry back.

Eastern Daily Press: Matt Ware's cat, Tigger.Picture: ANTONY KELLYMatt Ware's cat, Tigger.Picture: ANTONY KELLY (Image: Archant Norfolk 2018)

'Initially I thought he might be in the garden, but he said he'd fallen,' Mr Ware said.

'I tried to see if any windows and doors were open, but they weren't, and he asked me to get a locksmith.

'But when I asked how long he'd been there and he said six days, and hadn't eaten for six days, it was obvious he needed medical attention.'

He called the police and an ambulance, who got inside the property and took his next door neighbour to hospital.

Mr Ware, a freelance writer, said the man seemed 'very matter of fact' and calm about what had happened.

'He'd managed to drag himself to the bathroom for some water, but couldn't get to a phone downstairs,' he said.

'He doesn't seem to have many visitors and if the cat hadn't gone missing, and I hadn't decided to go knock on the door, it is possible he might have been there for a lot longer without food. Who knows?

'The cat going missing was a blessing in disguise in the end.'

Mr Ware, 49, said police had told him his neighbour was okay, but that he hoped to check up on him when he returned home.

And, after another look around Blofield Road, Mr Ware later found Tigger safe and well - locked, accidentally, in a garage.

The ambulance service said they sent a crew to the address at 11.25am on Wednesday, where they took a man in his 60s to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. But they said they had no information on his condition.