A THREE-day battle costing thousands of pounds to rescue a cat stuck down a sewer ended with tears of joy when seven-year-old Katie Irwin was reunited with her pet.

The feline adventurer became lodged in a maze of disused underground sewage pipes on Wednesday evening last week after falling into the River Ribble at Penwortham.

The soggy moggy was spotted by a man walking his dog at about 7pm, just before she slipped down the pipe.

He contacted nearby resident Sue Hunter who called the fire brigade and RSPCA.

The hunt for the fluffy kitten escalated into a full scale operation - codenamed Operation Snowball - as council engineers, firefighters and neighbours battled to trace the miaowing puss.

After a fruitless search through all the underground pipes engineers with hi-tec cameras were drafted in.

Several days, several thousands of pounds and many tears later, they finally struck gold on Saturday morning. They discovered the shivering, hungry ball of fluff curled up at the side of a broken pipe.

Little Katie, who lives at Riverside Road, was delighted to get her pet back. Mum Elizabeth said the family had been in tears anxiously waiting for news.

Snowball was checked by RSPCA Inspector Andy Kench and was immediately taken to the vets for a medical.

The whole operation, which involved digging four holes in the road, is expected to cost between £1,200 and £1,500 and the RSPCA and South Ribble council are discussing who will foot the bill.

Katie with brother Jon, eight, and Snowball.

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