Cobweb the cat has come back from the dead and been reunited with her family two years ago after disappearing.
The five-year-old tabby went missing from her home in 2017, devastating teenage owner Ella Clark.
However, the cat was miraculously found living at the Clacket Lane service station on the M25 and taken to the vets by the store manager last month.
Ella, a student studying zoology at University of Bristol , was stunned when her mum received a call from their local vet saying that their missing pet was at the surgery.
The service station was around 20 minutes from Ella's home.
Ella, 19, said: “Up to a year after she disappeared, my mum wandered around the countryside calling for her.
“It was extremely upsetting and we just hoped that she would cope living rough as she is streetwise.
"We thought the best-case scenario was that someone might have taken her in.”
“She was always very happy at home with me and my family, it was just that she didn’t have a good relationship with her brother from the same litter.
“After two years we have no expectation of ever seeing her again. When my mum received the call from the vet, it was so emotional. We both started crying.”
The reunion has prompted vets to urge people to have their pets microchipped.
Gemma Wade, head vet at Mark Nelson Vets, which returned Cobweb home, said: “Without a microchip, it is unlikely there would have been such a happy ending for Cobweb and her owners.
“Because the family had registered her as missing, we knew when we scanned her that this was a missing cat.
“It is rare that a cat that has been missing for so long to be returned to their owners because often owners move house and don’t update their contact details.
“Having your pet microchipped is inexpensive and painless.”
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