A Mid Sussex woman was in tears as she handed a cat back to his original owners after they took her to court.

But she has vowed to fight on and see if there is any way she can get him back.

Fiona May, 34, had to hand Binky - or Wally, as he was previously known - back to his legal owners, Robert and Michaela Sturman.

Miss May said: "I am absolutely devastated. I am lost without him. I am definitely considering appealing and am going to write to my MP.

"It was horrible waking up today and him not being there."

The friendly Birman was adopted by Miss May four years ago when she lived near the Sturmans in Crawley.

Miss May, a ground crew trainer for British Airways, put up posters to try to trace the owners but when no one came forward she kept Wally, calling him Binky.

For the next three years Wally flitted between both homes but when Miss May moved to Stourbridge in the West Midlands she took Wally with her.

The Sturmans, who said they had repeatedly asked her not to feed the cat, hired a private detective to trace the cat.

Eventually a county court judge ruled the Sturmans were Wally's legal owners and Miss May had to hand him back.

She said today: "I have been offered another cat but it is not the same. I just want Binky back."

As for Wally, he was happily curled up in his old home in Crawley with his brother Kitch and the Sturmans' three children.