A BLACK cat recovering after being hit by a car is to have a new home.

The young female adult, with only half a tail, underwent surgery for a ruptured diaphragm at the Gilmoor Vets Group, in Gilesgate, Durham.

She was taken there after being knocked over in North Road, in the city, last Saturday night.

The cat was not micro-chipped, had no collar and efforts to trace its owner drew a blank.

Veterinary nurse Caroline Calder said: "We decided to go ahead with the operation even though we couldn't find the owner and she is recovering absolutely fine. She will stay with us until she is fully recovered and the RSPCA has agreed to re-home her."

She said a couple of people rang up after the animal featured in The Northern Echo but it was not their cat.