Phantom cat found on the Underground
Runaway cat Mr Jingles must have used up a few of his nine lives after living for a fortnight within a London Underground tunnel.
The moggy spent his days dodging tube trains and live rails, only emerging at night to forage for food on the platform when the line was closed.
Station manager David Nobbs said: “He could have been hit by a train or electrocuted. Fortunately the gods were smiling. I’ve been working on the London Underground for 16 years and you get all walks of life coming through the station, but never before a cat on the loose.”
The drama began when Mr Jingles, a rescue cat from Dubai, escaped from his foster carer’s home near Pimlico station, a short walk from the Houses of Parliament.
Weeks after he went missing, drivers reported sightings of a cat and station staff heard mewing from within the tunnels, more than 50 feet below the city streets.
David went in search of the source, and said: “I saw him in the distance and called to him by meowing down the tunnel and he replied to me.
“He was a very vocal cat. But he was too scared to come back on to the platform when the trains were running.
“He would come back during the middle of the night and we could see him on the CCTV, prowling on the platform and trying to catch mice. But as soon as anyone went near, he’d disappear back into the tunnel for safety.”
Refusing to give up on the two-year-old cat, David placed some fish in a special box, which was set to close gently once the animal was inside.
Mr Jingles took the bait, and was finally rescued, none the worse for his underground adventure, apart from a thick coating of dust and soot.
He was taken in by cat charity Friends of Felines, who have now found him a permanent home with Charlotte Kemp, her husband and three children in the Suffolk countryside – away from the Underground.
Jenny Jones from Friends of Felines said: “If only he could talk. He’s had so many adventures. I really think he’s used up most of his nine lives.”