A STRAY is the cat that got the cream after a kind-hearted resident took him in.

Mel Russell, 39, of Clegg Street, Haslingden, had watched the little black and white cat hobble round town since she moved from Norden two years ago.

His back leg stuck at right-angles to his body, and local shops and residents all did the best they could to feed and look after him.

Her daughter Elspeth, nine, had named him 43, to differentiate him from another three-legged cat living nearby, as only three of his four legs work properlyand the pair had regularly put food out for him.

But Mel could not bear to watch his suffering any longer after she watched him catch his leg trying to squeeze through the neighbour’s fence, so lured him in with a meal of prawns and took him to the vet.

He is now recovering at her home, with his injured leg amputated, and she is hoping he will choose to stay with her for the rest of his life.

Mel said: “Lots of people have stopped me to ask what has happened to him. He’s been a really familiar sight around Haslingden for about six years as far as I know, and everyone has fallen in love with him.

“He’s been living as a stray for a long time so he was a bit wild at first, but he’s already following me round and loves being stroked. He’s a lovely little thing.”

Forty three is now settling in to life with Mel, Elspeth and their other cats Bobcat, Geordie and Ariel, but Mel said she expects him to continue begging food from local shops as soon as his stitches have healed.

She is also planning to carry out voluntary work with the Cats’ Protection League, which put her in touch with a Preston vet who allowed her to pay in instalments for the expensive operation.