Alfie with his owner Luke Price (left) and Luke's brother.

Missing moggie found in phone box

Lost cat Alfie was found trapped in a London telephone box, but unlike E.T, had no chance of phoning home.

Fortunately, the silver tabby has since been reunited with his owner after a member of the public took him to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in south London.

Alfie had been missing for 10 weeks and had wandered five miles from his home in Forest Hill. A routine microchip scan allowed the charity to trace his owner Luke Price.

Luke says he had tried desperately to find Alfie and was amazed to be reunited with him. "We couldn’t be happier to have him back in our life and hope he stays a bit closer to home this time! We thank everyone at Battersea for looking after him and contacting us – it was such a relief.

"I’m so glad we had him microchipped, we might never have seen him again if we hadn’t."

Lindsay Quinlan, head of Battersea's cattery, said only 15 per cent of the cats that come through their doors are microchipped, making it very difficult to reunite them with their owners.

Image courtesy of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home