A CAT rescued from a war zone has been found safe and well after three weeks AWOL.

The Press carried stories over Christmas about Howie the cat who was brought by soldier Captain Alan Barker home to Green Hammerton in February when his tour of duty ended in Afghanistan, at cost of almost £2,000.

But when he got home, his other cat attacked Howie all the time, which meant Alan had to keep Howie shut in a bedroom which was not the life he had intended for him.

Reluctantly he looked for a new home for him, and Howie went to stay with Paul Cordock in Strensall where he has lived happily until he went missing in the second week of December.

Following the appeal for help in the paper, Mr Cordock received calls informing him of sightings of black cats like Howie from across the city with one from Robert Gill Skingley from West Nooks, Haxby.

Mr Cordock said: "Robert informed me that he had read The Press story, and had seen a black cat which he thought looked like the photo, and he described it as ‘panther-looking’, in his garden over three days. It had been on his shed roof, and he had given it half a tin of cat food on Sunday morning, and he noted that it was friendly."

Mr Cordock drove round the area and went door to door, handing out leaflets until his search brought him to an alleyway leading to the River Foss bank area.

He said: "As I got halfway along the alley way, I noticed a black cat appear on the top of the fence between the two houses to my left. The cat started calling in a familiar way and I realised it was Howie.

"He’s in a lovely condition; clean shiny coat, no noticeable weight loss, and much like he was when he went missing three weeks ago to the day.

"I would like to thank all the kind Press readers who either notified me of sightings, or just sent words of support and encouragement to me. Many said 'don’t give up hope', and told me of their own experiences of cats being found, or returning home, after several weeks and in some cases, several months."