This cat has a long tail to tell - in Spanish - after a remarkable 1,000-mile trek before being reunited with her owner.

Phoebe the cat was handed into a British vets after her epic journey from her Iberian homeland.

But no-one at Newnham Court Vets near Maidstone had any idea of her incredible story when the unidentified, unassuming and outwardly untroubled moggy was handed in last week.

As far as the vets were concerned she could have just wandered off the nearest Weavering housing estate that afternoon.

But the discovery of Phoebe’s Spanish microchip and a phone call to mainland Europe revealed the truth was far more incredible.

Phoebe’s adventure begun more than a month and 1,000 miles away, when her owner set out to visit her daughter in London last December.

All had been going fine until they’d stopped at the service station at Junction 8 of the M20 near Maidstone, and Phoebe was gripped by a sudden compulsion to mimic Speedy Gonzales.

A short scamper in the car park turned into an adventure to match one of Don Quixote’s, as Phoebe sallied forth into unknown lands - the countryside near Hollingbourne - to spend a month battling the British midwinter elements, before being found in Harrietsham.

Or did she?

Newnham Court’s pets administrator Lucy Lamarque - speaking before Phoebe was due to be picked up by her owner’s daughter this week - said she looked remarkably well on arrival, perhaps indicating she’d been enjoying some fine dining and warm hospitality during her stay on the “Costa Del M20 Corridor.”

“We think she’s been roughing it,” said Miss Lamarque. “But she’s in very good condition. Someone’s probably been feeding her and there’s not a scratch on her.

“She’s a lovely cat.”

And, she added, “thank God for microchips.”