Cat rescued from roof by 'absolute legends' - armed with can of tuna - after Facebook SOS

Nicole Averley was left having kittens after seeing discovering that her cat, Stitch, had escaped a bathroom window and was sitting on the top of the three-storey roof – and had been there for more than three hours.

At a loss for a way to rescue him she contacted the fire service but was told that they needed a referral from the RSPCA.

After getting in touch with the RSPCA and leaving her details she posted about the predicament on Facebook – with Chris Barber, who runs the Finesse Finishes property maintenance firm, coming to the rescue, with his colleague Ben Watkins.

Chris's firm works with cherry pickers, and he has form for helpful animal rescues after previously helping a group of trapped birds.

On this occasion he was tagged into the situation by a host of people on the social network, and he and Ben headed over within 10 minutes.

It took about 20 minutes after they started the rescue, but with the aid of a tin of tuna they were able to re-unite Stitch with his panicked owner.

Nicole, who has described the rescuers as "absolute legends" who had "reinstated her faith in humanity", had initially posted on Facebook saying: "My cat has decided to get out of our top window and can't get himself back down.

"I've called the RSPCA as the fire service can't help until referred by them which could take hours.

"We have a three-storey house so very high ladders and someone who knows what their doing would be needed... if anybody could help I'd be so grateful, happy to pay a reward, just need him down."

Speaking after the rescue operation Chris said: "We live in Market Drayton but we were in Telford working and I got a message on Facebook and it was from another person and it said 'Chris can you please help?'. I saw it and went to the post and within 10 minutes we had about 10 posts all saying the same thing.

"We were 10 minutes away literally so I called the lady and said we will be there in 10 minutes."

When they arrived Chris and Ben used the cherry picker to get to Stitch but the understandably nervous kitty took some persuading to budge.

With the help of a can of tuna and a little encouragement Ben eventually managed to collar the cat and get him back down safely into his owner's arms.

Chris said they had just been happy to help.

Nicole added: "If it wasn't for Chris Burton and his colleague Ben, Stitch could well still be up there now, with this 27 degree weather."

Posting her gratitude on Facebook she said: "These two guys have fully reinstated my faith in humanity, within 20 minutes of me posting about Stitch getting stuck, Chris Barber & Ben reached out and was here within 10 minutes and rescued my scared kitty.

"They got him down safely and quickly, and all they wanted was a cup of tea in return, what absolute legends! Cannot thank you both enough."