A cat apparently trying to hitch a ride from London to Manchester delayed a high-speed train after it refused to come down for two and a half hours.
The daring feline was spotted nestled on top of an Avanti West Coasttrain in Euston Station at 8:30pm on Tuesday evening – just half an hour before the train was due to speed off at 125mph.
Even at a standstill, cat-astrophe was close at hand: 25,000 volt overhead power lines were just a whisker away.
The cat eventually climbed down after a bin was pulled up beside the carriages to give the tabby its own special platform to disembark.
In the meantime, the train was taken out of service and another one made available for human passengers on essential journeys, meaning that, while they faced a short delay, they didn’t have to contend with the full two and a half hours.
Euston’s station manager Joe Hendry said: “We often have to deal with birds inside the station, but in all my time here this is the first train surfing cat.
“Thankfully curiosity didn’t kill this cat and we’re glad it avoided using up one of its nine lives.”
Station staff described the cat as “swaggering off” after the incident.
