The owner of a curious cat found inside a car's engine says she's relieved his nosy ways didn't end in tragedy.

The tabby tom, named Paps, startled mechanics at Renault Croydon when they discovered him curled up underneath the engine cover of David McGleenon's Renault Megane.

When mechanic Dave Spicknall removed the engine cover as he serviced the car on March 30 the startled kitty jumped out and hid underneath a bench until he was coaxed back out.

Dubbing him Miles, the feline was taken to nearby Anwells Veterinary Surgery in Brighton Road, Coulsdon, to be looked after.

Hoping to reunite the poor moggy with its owners the Croydon Guardian ran a story of his plight in last week's edition.

Luckily after a friend saw the story Paps and his owner Mel Cicati have been reunited.

Mel adopted her kitty from the PDSA (People's Dispensary for Sick Animals) about a year ago.

She said he'd been missing for around three weeks and until she heard about the story she'd began to lose hope for his safe return.

"I was very relieved to get Paps back. It had been three weeks since he'd gone missing and I was beginning to get really worried and I was beginning to give up a bit of hope."

Mel, who has recently moved from Waddon, near to where the car's owner David McGleenon, an emergency medical technician from Caterham, works.

She said: "When I got him back home I sat him down and gave him lots of cuddles and love and a lot of attention.

"It's amazing he got into the engine, I don't know how he managed it, he must have climbed up under the wheel arch, but he's always been a nosy cat."