Penny the travelling cat was recovering today after a 300-mile journey under the cab of a neighbour's lorry.

The two-year-old black cat clambered into the vehicle's electrical compartment to escape the rain.

And unbeknown to her owners, Paul and Sophie Chambers, she was still in the cab when neighbour Jack Harrison, 43, set off at 4am on a trip to Ireland.

He headed north to deliver Paula Rosa kitchens with Penny still lying low on board. Only 300 miles later, when he reached Cheshire, did he hear the cat crying.

Mr Harrison, who lives near the Chambers' in Abinger Road, Portslade, said: "When I got up to Cheshire I stopped and heard her crying but could not work out where it was coming from.

"I jacked up the cab and saw these two big round yellow eyes staring back at me.

"I had her checked over to make sure she was all right but I couldn't take her over to Ireland with me. The police suggested I leave her with a woman who rescues cats at Holyhead and pick her up on the way back."

Jack phoned his partner Mandy, who thought she recognised his description of the cat and went round to the Chambers. She told them Penny would be back from Wales in a few days.

Mr Chambers, 27, said: "We are very grateful to them for looking after Penny. We have just had a baby so we hadn't really noticed she'd gone."