A heartbroken family is appealing for the return of their kitten who was stolen from their garden and sold to a pet shop.

Ginger Tigger went missing from Hangleton on Saturday morning.

After asking people all over the estate, owner Samantha Coghill, 20, of Downland Drive, discovered the cat had been sold to a pet shop for 12 tins of cat food by a man claiming it was his own.

The pet shop sold the 12-month-old puss within two hours to a family with children who said they lived in Whitehawk.

Samantha said her four-year-old stepson Ben had been inconsolable since Tigger was taken.

She said: "Every day he asks when Tigger will be back. Tigger's brother Crunchie has also been pining.

"The pet shop has offered me a rabbit or something else for the kids but we want Tigger back.

"It's not the fault of the pet shop or whoever bought him. But if they bring him back I will buy them another kitten. They might have grown attached to him but Tigger is ours."

A spokesman for Grenadier Pet Supplies in West Way, Hangleton, said: "A man came in on Saturday with a kitten in a basket saying it was the last of the litter.

"He wanted £20 but we told him we only paid in food. He gave us a name and address which turned out to be false.

"I cannot understand why anyone would stoop so low. We bought the kitten in good faith and sold it in good faith but we would also appeal for this family to come forward."

Anyone who knows the whereabouts of Tigger can ring Samantha on (01273) 389678.