A WOMAN has told how her pet cat survived a 270-mile journey sitting under the bonnet of her neighbours’ car.

Eight-year-old Mogul used up at least one of his nine lives during the five-hour trip from the New Forest to the north of England.

Mogul was curled up on the car’s engine and even stayed with the vehicle during the neighbours’ day trips in the Yorkshire countryside.

Owner Charlotte Gwyther had almost given up hope of seeing him again when she learned he was alive and well – but rather oily - after experiencing a long-distance adventure.

Charlotte, of Ramley Road in Pennington, said: “Mogul had been missing for five days and we were getting quite worried.

“We thought he’d been hit by a car or something and probably wasn’t going to be coming back.

“Then our neighbours rang and said ‘We’ve got your cat’ – which was a complete shock because they were more than 200 miles away in Yorkshire.

“Mogul must have climbed into the engine bay while their car on was the driveway and sat on the battery for the whole journey.”

The cold weather that occurred during the neighbours’ holiday provided the first indication that they had a stowaway.

Charlotte said: “They noticed that part of the bonnet hadn’t frozen over but didn’t really think anything of it, then saw a white cat drinking water from a puddle.

“They knew Mogul had gone missing and noticed his yellow collar.

“There were also clear signs that he had been sitting in the engine compartment.

“Luckily they were coming home the next day and

obviously brought Mogul with them.

“He was a little oily and had lost a bit of weight but seemed perfectly happy, despite what had happened, and was purring away.

“I was in complete shock for several days.

“It’s amazing he survived such a long journey in the engine bay at motorway speeds.”