Friends reunited - the ferrets, that is!

3:00pm Wednesday 9th August 2006

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A BOLTON family ripped their kitchen apart when a pair of ferrets disappeared.

James Watson, of Sandy Hills, Great Lever, had gone to bed after putting Torie and Minx in their cage in the kitchen - which did not have a lid so they could roam freely.

But when he and his children Damon, aged 10, and Hayley, aged 11, woke in the morning and went down to feed them, Torie and Minx had vanished.

Together with mum Julie Clemett, they began to frantically search the house, including ripping the kitchen apart to find their beloved pets.

Eventually Mr Watson, aged 35, found the ferrets trapped in a narrow drainpipe in the kitchen.

He said: "I just couldn't understand where they'd gone. It seemed they'd completely vanished.

"I spotted the pipe early on, but thought there was no way they could get down a hole that small, but that's exactly what they'd done."

Mr Watson called the fire brigade and crews from Leigh and Bolton were able to lure Torie out quickly, but Minx could not be seen.

So a snake-eye camera and floor breaking equipment were brought from the fire station and eventually Minx was found in the pipe and was coaxed out by the firemen.

Mr Watson said: "I now consider the firefighters to be part of my family because of what they did. I just can't thank them enough."

Torie and Minx are none the worse after their ordeal and are happily playing in their cage - with a lid on.

Ian Bailey, station manager at Bolton fire station, said: "The owners were absolutely over the moon and couldn't have thanked us enough.

"To see the appreciation on the family's faces makes the job worthwhile."