A CAT called Kaos forced a family to move into their kitchen for six days after setting up home under the floorboards of their home.

The mischievous moggy didn't pause for thought and ran through a hole in the wall of the Sampson home in Sudell Road, Darwen, after being startled by a banging door.

Brian Sampson, 40, was forced to move his wife, Linda, 30, two children, Bryony, two, and Grace, one, -- and the telly -- into the kitchen while he removed floorboards in an attempt to catch the stray.

But he failed to tempt it out, despite lifting the floorboards in the living room and the hall -- and even the fire brigade failed to grab the stubborn moggy.

The ginger four-legged friend caused the family sleepless nights with its crying and scratching before eventually being snared in an RSPCA trap.

Brian, a registered nurse, said: "We had to name it Kaos because it has just been absolute chaos and a lot of hard work and inconvenience. It was extremely disconcerting. All the kids' toys were moved into the kitchen and the furniture was moved out of the room. It's not been at all funny

"It was kitty chaos. It took me about seven hours to lift the floor boards up to block off the air vents under the floor to keep the cat in one part of the house.

"The first night wasn't too bad but the second and third nights we could hear it crying and scratching all night.

"It popped it's head up through the gap on a couple of occasions when the trap was there. It even went in for the first time and got the fish but didn't set it off so I put some more food down.

"I let it roam round the kitchen when I'd caught it before I let it go and then opened the patio doors and it just set off. I wished it good luck before it went and it just stared at me and went.

"It came back the following morning and sat on the patio table and stared at my wife. I think it had come back for a second helping of fish or something. but we didn't feed it. We've not seen it since.

"It's a lovely little thing. It's only about 10 months old. It was a bit grubby when we caught it and very nervous but it's a very trusting cat. It let me stroke it. It was just a bit hungry and a bit thirsty but apart from that it wasn't too worse for wear.

"It's a relief that it's safe but it's still not over yet. I've got to move all the furniture and uproot the floorboards again to unblock the air vents!"

A spokesman for the RSPCA said: " Six days is quite a long time for an animal to be stuck but we do come across cases like this. It's definitely not unheard of but not a very pleasant experience for the cat.