A FRANTIC two-weeks’ hunt for a missing cat ended when a pensioner couple were reunited with their precious pet.

So worried were they that the Persian cat had been stolen Harold and Cynthia Entwistle launched a massive poster campaign.

They also feared that eight-year-old Jasmine would be not be found alive.

In fact, when Jasmine was found it appeared to have been living like the famous cartoon moggy Top Cat who resided in a collection of dustbins!

The escapade left owner Harold Entwistle, 78, and his wife Cynthia, 75, of Lodge Street, Accrington, searching the streets every day for Jasmine.

Persian kittens cost hundreds of poundsand it was feared she had been stolen to breed from her.

Mr Entwistle, a former caretaker at Peel Park Primary School, said: “She was spotted by two shop assistants who saw a notice in the window.

“She was sitting on some dustbins looking bedraggled and skinny.

“I don’t know whether she just had a few weeks on the tiles or if somebody had been keeping her.”

Mr Entwistle and his wife have been looking after Jasmine for five months for their daughter Antoinette, whose ill health meant she couldn’t care for her.

“We brought her home around January or February because we got a rat in the back garden and it came into the house,” he said.

“It sounded like an elephant was in the walls and it was waking us up at night, so we took the cat.

“She was only here for an hour when she heard the rat.

“She started growling like a dog and started patting the skirting boards. Well that rat packed its bags and we’ve never seen it since.”

Despite his delight, Mr Entwistle says the death of his beloved long eared border collie Molly last week had taken the shine off getting Jasmine home.