AN ADVENTUROUS cat - who has been on the run for three months - has returned to his delighted owners after finding his own way back to his Hemsby home.

Fiesty feline Ping escaped from the vets in early August after being microchipped and disappeared into a nearby allotments, where he has been holidaying for the past 10 weeks - even taking a fancy to a young female kitten who he set up home with for a few days.

Several gardeners did their best to catch the runaway but it appeared Ping did not want to cut short his break and evaded capture.

So his owner Jess Blackburn - who had also carried out a huge search effort to bring Ping back - was astonished this afternoon (Tuesday) when the two year old cat turned up at her back door, after making the four mile journey home.

Jess said: 'We looked for him endlessly, day and night and in all weathers. We kept smelly cat food in the car to try and tempt him out but nothing. My youngest son was especially upset as Ping had slept on his bed every night since a kitten and he worried for him all the time.

'However, this afternoon there was a familiar 'm'yowl' at the back door and there sat Ping.

'We have no idea how he made it from the far side of Caister to Hemsby but there he was, as large as life and very hungry.'

Ping's escape featured in the Mercury when he first went missing and attracted several comments from readers who pledged to keep an eye out for the mischievous moggy. His antics also attracted the attention of allotment holders, with one man turning his green house into a Heath Robinson cat trap complete with springs, bungees and food baited balances, and another calling the family at midnight to say he had spotted Ping hiding under one of his very own missing posters.

Jess added: 'We had so many kind people help look for him, which took us by surprise. You don't expect strangers to care about your pet as if it was their own especially when there are so many awful stories about poisoning and cruelty.

'I'd like to thank the Mercury for putting his picture in, it really helped the kids when they thought he wasn't coming back.'

'So there we have it - a happy ending for once. He's fit and healthy and currently purring his head off glad to be home.'