A KITTEN rescued from a car engine has received a double dose of luck.

For as well as being nicknamed Lucky for surviving her close encounter, the miraculous moggie has also been reunited with her mum -- also called Lucky.

The Lancashire Evening Telegraph, revealed last week that the kitten, whose real name is Whiskers, was found by stunned motorist Mark Varey trapped under the bonnet of his Ford Focus.

It is believed she had climbed inside and nestled around the warm engine during heavy rain.

Mark, of Clayton Way, Ewood, Blackburn, stopped his car after hearing a screeching noise while driving with wife Joanne through Blackburn town centre.

He initially thought it was the vehicle's brakes but called the RSPCA and fire brigade when he spotted Whiskers because he feared she was injured.

But after a wash and brush by the RSPCA, Whiskers was good as new and Mark produced some posters to find its home. The same night, owners Graham Bleeks and Sarah Grubb, of Whittaker Street, Blackburn, realised the kitten was missing.

Mr Bleeks, a driver with a distribution firm, said: "We had no idea what had happened to her. We were searching and her mother, Lucky, was crying and peering out the window. On Wednesday, I was at work when Sarah called me, saying Whiskers was in the newspaper.

He added: "We were a bit fazed about how she got in the car bonnet and ended-up at Higher Croft. But we now know the driver has relatives living round our way and visits a local bookies' shop. Whiskers had climbed under the bonnet and been driven into town."

The kitten was eventually returned home to Whittaker Street, much to the relief of Graham and Sarah, and daughters Keeley, six, and three-year-old Chloe, who attend St Luke's and St Philips School and Nursery.

Graham said: "The girls were out in the back alley, trying to find Whiskers. So they're glad to have her back again.

"If it hadn't been for the Evening Telegraph story, we would never have been reunited with our kitten."