THE RSPCA has reunited a man with his cat after it got wedged behind a fuse box in a van for three days.

The one-year-old cat called Ginger was found in a Northern Powergrid van in Westminster Drive, Gateshead, on Sunday when the driver realised there was a strange smell coming from the back.

The driver contacted the RSPCA and Inspector Terri-Ann Fannon was called to Westminster Drive in Gateshead where she was able to free the cat from the van and took him to RSPCA Felledge Animal Centre for a check over.

Thankfully, Ginger was microchipped which meant the next day the charity was able to reunite Ginger with his owner Daniel, who preferred his surname was not used.

Terri-Ann said: “This poor cat was lucky he was found when he was. It turned out he must have climbed into the van a few days before when it had been parked outside his owners house for a repair on Wednesday, 13 January.

“The driver had been off work on Thursday so poor Ginger had been in the van for three days. He was understandably shaken, hungry and a little dehydrated but otherwise fine.

“My colleague Animal Rescue Officer Dave Dawson took Ginger back to South Shields, about 10 miles away from where the van had been parked, and returned him to his owner Daniel.

“It’s nice to have a happy ending and it really does show how important microchipping your pets is.

"Sadly for those animals without a chip, it is so hard to reunite them, we always put their details on the Pets Located website, but if they are chipped and the details are up to date we can reunite them so much quicker. While it is heartbreaking to lose a pet, if they are microchipped there is a small part of reassurance that should they be found they will make their way back home to you.

“But it is also worth reminding people that if you do chip your pet, please always update the details should you move. The RSPCA would encourage everyone to get their pets microchipped.”

Daniel said: “He’d been missing for about 72 hours and I was really worried about him but then I found out he’d been stuck in the electric company’s van ever since we’d had our electric fixed earlier in the week.

"He’s fine now although he does seem a little bit traumatised. He’s still a bit shaken up so I think it was a stressful experience for him.”