Watch: Monty the cat recovers after being caught in snare in Broseley

But owner Brian McCabe found a wire caught tightly around his stomach. He had to use wire cutters to remove the wire, which came from a banned self-locking snare.

Today he warned other pet owners to be careful where the animals are allowed to roam.

Mr McCabe, 44, a painter and decorator, said: "It was unusual for him to be away for a long time.

"It was about 7pm and he was miaowing at the back door so I let him in and the first thing I thought was how skinny he looked, his tummy seemed really tight.

"So I put some food out for him but he wouldn't eat it. It was only when he sat on my lap later that I felt the cable from the snare wrapped around his stomach.

"It was so tight it took some cutting off with wire cutters. He is a very lucky cat.

"It took him a couple of days to recover but then he was fine."

Mr McCabe, who is married with two children, said he is worried that a cat they had before my also have died because of snares being used around the family home in Broseley.

He said: "We had another cat who used to go out in the same area, down the path by the Methodist Church it leads to some fields.

"She went missing and we think she may have got caught in the snare and nobody got to her.

"With Monty I think whoever put the snare down went back, found him and let him out.

"The area is very popular with dog walkers so people could let their dogs go running and they could get caught. We just want to make people aware."

PCSO Mal Goddard from Broseley and Much Wenlock's Safer Neighbourhoods Team said the snare used on Monty was illegal.

The snares tighten using a ratchet action as the animal struggles and despite being illegal are still often used in the UK and cause severe injuries to a lot of animals.

If they catch on animals legs they can cut down to the bone.

Anyone with information about traps should call 101 and quote incident reference 0316S 060116.