A WOMAN who brought her cats over from Ireland for a Christmas visit her daughter and family living in Whitecroft is distraught after one of them ran off.

Ginger-and-white Cayenne was spooked by a storm and vanished into the forest, and neither owner Mrs Alison McCoy nor her daughter Sarah have seen him since.

"That was December 12-13, the night of the big storm," said Sarah. "I feel so bad, since she had brought them over to see us.

"She has tried practically every place that could look after him and taken postcards round the estates but nothing has been seen."

Her mother travelled over in the ferry bringing her two cats, Cayenne and Kerry, in the car with her.

Now she has had to return home to Cork with Kerry alone. "Kerry misses him a lot," she said.

"I would be very grateful if you could ask about him. I am a widow living alone and he is very much part of my family.

"He is quite a big cat and answers well to his name. He has now been missing for five weeks and is definitely not used to life in the wild."

•Anyone with a sighting of Cayenne should get in touch with Sarah McCoy on 01594 560006.