A KITTEN had a lucky escape after becoming trapped in a sewer pipe.

Firefighters and the RSPCA were called to the incident in Lion Street, Church at 2.50pm today.

But despite the best efforts of the emergency services the feral kitten's sibling, which was also trapped in the pipe, remains missing this evening.

Resident David Brown, 27, who has been feeding cats in the area for the last three years, raised the alarm after seeing the kittens jump down the old outdoor toilet sewer pipe in the back yard of his neighbour's house.

Having shone a torch down the pipe Mr Brown, a father-of-one, saw one of the kittens but was unable to get to it because of the narrow four foot drop.

He said: "I only noticed the kittens about a week ago. I was feeding their mother and I saw she was carrying the food in her mouth and jumping over the wall. I followed her and saw the two kittens in the outhouse.

"This afternoon my neighbour went into his yard to sort out the garden and disturbed the cats. The mother ran away over the wall but the kittens panicked and ran down the open hole and down into the sewer pipe. It wasn't my neighbour's fault because I don't think he knew they were there.

"I jumped over the wall, shone my torch down the hole and there was one of the kittens. I tried to put my hand down to pull it out but there was a four foot drop. I rang my sister Mel but I couldn't get through to the RSPCA because the line was busy. My sister said ring the fire brigade which I did and they were fantastic. They spent a lot of time down there trying to rescue them.

"I was very relieved when one came out. I am just disappointed the other one is still missing. But one out of two ain't bad. I'll be listening out for the other kitten in the morning and if I can hear it I'll ring the RSPCA back."

RSPCA Inspector Kat Newman said a stray feral white and grey Tabby kitten had been rescued and taken to the vet but was not thought to be seriously injured.

Insp Newman said: "We received a call from the fire service regarding two kittens which had become trapped down a sewage pipe running under the road. They had gained access via an open exposed toilet and had got into the u-bend.

"Firefighters put a thermal imaging camera down the pipe and located the kittens. A joint decision was made to use water to try to flush them down the channel into a net in the direction of the water flow.

"We did retrieve one of the kittens but unfortunately we couldn't see or hear the other one. She came out cold and wet but otherwise appears uninjured. She is very lucky. We are taking her to one of the local vets for a check-up. Then we'll look to foster or re-home her.

"In relation to the missing cat, we are hoping that the resident who called the fire service will monitor the hole and see if they can see or hear anything today or tomorrow. If so another rescue attempt will be made."

Firefighters from Hyndburn Station attended the incident and were at the scene for more than three hours.