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Cat lost in Calais reunited after five days abroad
15:22, 06 August 2019
updated: 19:57, 06 August 2019
A cat that ran away at a Eurotunnel terminal has been found safe and well.
Simon Tipping and his partner Juliet Brown, from Folkestone, were returning from a holiday in France on Wednesday, when her feline friend Mia jumped out of their van between check-in and boarding at the Calais station.
Appeals on Facebook to keep an eye out for the furry escapologist were quickly answered, with a reported sighting the next day.
Contact was initiated between Mr Tipping and Eurotunnel, with the Oxfordshire man returning to Folkestone yesterday on a rescue mission.
On Facebook, he recounts: "Today we jumped on a train to Calais on the off chance that we might find Mia.
"We got off the train in Calais went round to the toll booths as if to get back on to go to the UK, talked to the ground staff who knew all about Mia and have been looking for her, she is famous around the Eurotunnel site.
"Well ten minutes before we arrived in France she had been spotted on CCTV.
"We were taken to the spot in between two security fences and she came running. So within an hour of getting off the train we have her back.
"I love the French Eurotunnel staff they were so helpful and friendly, everybody at Eurotunnel have been so helpful."
The cat made it home safely five days after going AWOL, kept under close watch in a travel cage.
In an email to Eurotunnel following the successful mission, Mr Tipping said: "Please, please thank everyone at Eurotunnel from customer support to the ground staff at Calais (Dorothee Dequeker, Francois, Benoit and Stephan) who helped look for her and made it possible for us to retrieve Mia, it was a team effort, we were overwhelmed by the help, support and interest in this matter.
"I would especially like to thank Calais ground staff for there warmth, friendliness and concern, they are all brilliant heroes. I can't thank you enough for making our experience so easy. We still can not believe we got her back, we are so happy.
"On the way home we did not let Mia out of her cage but I think she is so happy to be back in her pride that she was not leaving her cage for anything, we arrived home happy and exhausted around 4.20 am.
"Mia has eaten and had a drink and is fast asleep at the bottom of our bed, back where she should be with the help of social media, Eurotunnel and a group of people who will always remain very special to us."
KentOnline has been assured that Mia "is being very spoiled" following her return.
Escaped animals, unusual finds and news from the RSPCA can all be found here.
