Cat found after Birmingham to London drive to be rehomed

A cat carried 130 miles from Birmingham to London trapped in a car engine will be rehomed, an animal charity says.

The cat, named Tinsel by the Celia Hammond Animal Trust, was found on Christmas Day, and the charity has been appealing to find her owner since then.

But with no idea where in Birmingham she may have come from, it said it has had no luck in tracing the owner.

The trust said Tinsel would be spayed, vaccinated and microchipped before a new home was found for her.

The charity said the "friendly" tortoiseshell was found when the car pulled up at a block of flats in east London, about 130 miles (209km) from where its journey began.

Residents ensured the cat was safe, but divined little information from the driver about where in Birmingham he had come from.

Despite thousands of shares on social media, and media coverage of her discovery, the trust said it had no leads.

Celia Hammond, who founded the trust, said the charity did not know the cat's history but "obviously she was very much loved", adding that because the owner had not had the cat microchipped the chances of finding the owner was now "limited".

"We couldn't believe after so much publicity, we didn't have anything to go on," she said.

Several people have offered to give Tinsel a new home.

"We won't have any trouble finding her a home, there will be a happy ending for her, just not the one we hoped for at the start," Ms Hammond said.

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