Izzy's lucky escape

Izzy the 14-year-old black and white cat found herself in a pickle when she ventured behind the garden wall of her home on Cross Street, St Annes, and became wedged inside the narrow cavity.

Owner Georgie Oxley-Gomes, 46, found the unfortunate feline crying on Saturday morning.

She said: “I had been up early in the morning at around 5am. Usually Izzy goes out on a night and then meows at the door to get in the next day, but she didn’t do it that morning.

“I could hear her crying but I couldn’t see her, so I looked everywhere where I thought she’d be, and eventually found her trapped between the wall and my neighbour’s garage.

“I have no idea how long she had been there.”

Project manager Georgie and her two daughters Ashley, 14, and Zoe, 11, called RSPCA inspector Carl Larsson, 29, for help. He rushed to the scene, but was unable to free the beloved pet.

He said: “The cat was completely wedged in. The gap got more and more narrow as it goes along, and it looks like the cat had wandered in and gone so far that it couldn’t move forwards, backwards, up or down.

“I have got various hooks, poles and nets that I tried to get around the cat and coax it out, but it had gone so deep inside the gap none of my tools were long enough to get a hold of her.”

Carl placed a call to Lancashire Fire and Rescue, who were forced to remove the bricks from the family’s garden wall to free Izzy.

Carl said: “They managed to use some tools they had to chip away the cement and take some of the bricks out of the wall. We then hooked a lassoo around the cat’s neck and eased her out as gently as possible. It was absolutely fine and didn’t seem too bothered. We just put it down on the ground and it walked off and had a sunbathe.”

Georgie said: “My eldest daughter was quite worried and sat with Izzy the whole time they were taking the bricks down to keep her calm.

“She was covered in bits of mortar and she looked liek she had been dragged through dust. She was covered from head to foot in brownish-grey dust. She was pretty scared, but after around 20 minutes she came to us for a cuddle.

“She’s quite an old cat and she’s been in really good health until now. I hope this was just a one-off!