A cat who disappeared from home in November has reappeared almost 35 miles away, to the astonishment of his owner.

Caspar, a three-year-old white and brown cat, turned up in the village of Grosmont, near Whitby, North Yorkshire, four weeks after going missing from his home in Egerton Street, Middlesbrough.

His owner Angela Wardell found him, stuck on a roof.

Miss Wardell, 23, works in Grosmont as a computer trainer, but claims the cat did not travel there with her.

"My partner Martin put Caspar out at about 10pm on a Tuesday evening and I'd been in Whitby from 10am that morning, so he couldn't have come with me. He noticed next morning that Caspar hadn't returned."

After weeks of searching, the couple assumed Caspar was gone and were considering buying another cat.

"But then I was in Grosmont one day and I heard this cat miaowing on top of this roof. I didn't realise at first it was Caspar," said Miss Wardell.

"As I got nearer I saw it was him. I just couldn't believe it really. Caspar had never been to Grosmont before."

The emaciated and distressed pet was rescued from the roof by Peter Whitrick, landlord of the Station Tavern, and is now safely back home.

"It seems a bit of a miracle that he could go 33 miles," said Miss Wardell. "We can't understand it. He's either walked there or waited till a few days later and got into the engine of my car, but it's odd that I didn't spot him. We're just glad to have him back."

Mr Whitrick, 57, said the tale had perplexed villagers. "It's really odd. Nobody knew anything about this cat until he appeared on the roof. How he got there, we'll never know."