AN East Lancashire cat has missed out on a national award by a whisker.

Slinky Malinki was shortlisted for a hero award at the Cats Protection’s National Cat Awards in London.

His owner Janet Rawlinson, 48, hailed him a hero after the moggy alerted neigbours when she collapsed at her home in Cornholme, near Cliviger.

Former nurse Janet was left in a semi-comatose state for five days after suffering a bad reaction to morphine for her chronic back pain.

And the normally timid tomcat Slinky came to her rescue by tapping on the window of next door neighbours Mel and Stephen Sharp with his paw to raise the alarm.

Janet said: “He saved my life. Without him I might not have made it."

Nelson, a one-eyed rescue cat from County Durham, won the top award at The Savoy in London.