STAFF at the Tesco store in Coleford had a shock when a delivery van turned up recently.

Among the tins, fruit and veg and other items was a long-haired, grey cat.

The pet was taken to the nearby Drybridge Vets to see if it was microchipped to try and reunite it with its owners.

Thanks to its microchip, the cat – who is called Smokie – was traced to an address 50 miles away in Worcester.

When there was no response to a number of phone calls, the Cats Protection charity was called in and local lost and found officer, Karen Williams, took the old-fashioned approach and wrote a letter.

A couple of days later Karen received a call from Smokie’s owner, Sally Padget, who said the family had been away on holiday.

A neighbour, who had been looking after Smokie, had been frantically searching the area for lost pet.

A spokeswoman for Cats Protection said: “No-one suspected that he would have hitched a lift to the Forest of Dean in a delivery van.”

The family was thrilled to be reunited with their pet and relieved that he had been microchipped.

The Cats Protection spokeswoman added: “If it had been your cat that had played stowaway in a delivery vehicle and been driven to a different part of the country, a microchip is virtually the only way he/she could be traced.

“Even if the cat was handed into a vet, without a chip no-one would be any the wiser.

“So do have your cat microchipped and keep the details up to date on the chip register if you move.”