A WANDERING cat which went missing for nearly six months has been found – just half a mile away.

Tomcat Tommy escaped from the Shalynn Cattery in Prince Avenue, Westcliff, last September after chewing through chicken wire in his pen.

His distraught owner June Mayes covered the area in hundreds of letters and posters trying to find the missing moggy.

But Mrs Mayes, of Waxwell Road, Hullbridge, was shocked to find he had been close by keeping an old lady company.

Despite numerous reported sightings of Tommy, the cat was still unnaccounted for – until one Bridgwater Drive resident noticed her neighbour had been feeding him the entire time.

Mrs Mayes, 60, said: “My husband spent hours and hours looking for him in the area and responding to every sighting, but it turned out an old lady had been feeding him since Christmas.

“Although she lives so close to the cattery, she hadn’t seen any of the posters or media put out about it, and it was only when a neighbour told her it was Tommy that she realised.

“She had been putting food out for foxes and had been feeding Tommy as well.”

Now Mrs Mayes is trying to track down Tommy’s surrogate owner to say thank you for looking after him.

She added: “We’re still trying to find out who this lady is because we want to send her some flowers and chocolates to say thank you for looking after him.

“It’s a really happy ending that we’ve got him back.”

After the neighbour reported Tommy had been sighted, the cattery laid a trap in the area, which lured him in with a tasty treat at the beginning of March.

However, as the couple were on a cruise in South America, Tommy had to stay in the cattery’s indoor Rayleigh branch until they returned to the country last week.

Mrs Mayes said Tommy was healthy and well and the family – included three other cats – were delighted to see him again, especially husband Mick, also 60, who would sit with Tommy each night.

Shalynn owner Lynn Tobin, who paid for a “missing” advert to be put in the Echo, said escapes were very rare.

She added: “This is only the second time this has happened in 45 years and we have been strengthening the pens with a different type of wire.”