THE owner of a cat that went missing three years ago had a surprise phone call last week – he had been found alive and well.

Tracy Ko didn't think she would see her cat, Tiggy, again after he took a wander six weeks after she'd moved to Sling in May 2011. The little fella, who was three years old at the time, ended up at the home of an elderly couple in the same village two weeks ago. The suspicious couple twigged something wasn't right when Tiggy kept reappearing for food, and so when they took him to Severnside Vets in Lydney to track down his owners the micro-chip database located him to Sling.

Tracy said: "Tiggy went missing in June 2011 and I searched for him, called around local vets to check if he had been handed in and called the micro-chip registration company to make them aware he had gone missing. I left it a few weeks and when I didn't hear anything I thought the worst.

"Then last week I received the phone call from Severnside Vets that he had been handed in and appeared in good health. I can't believe he is alive and that after all this time he was found in the same village. We have been keeping him indoors to help him settle in again – when he pops out I will make sure he doesn't leave my sight. I would love to know where he went and what he got up to."