Firefighters rescued a pet from cat-astrophe when they freed its head from a cat food tin.

A crew at Crawley Fire Station were presented with the problem of removing the cat from the can at 8am yesterday when a resident dropped off the distressed pet.

The woman had found the cat with the tin on its head wandering the streets of Pound Hill as she drove to church on Sunday morning.

The firefighters first tried to slide the cat’s head out using washing-up liquid but when that didn’t work used a tin opener and finally a ring cutter to free the animal.

The cat has now been taken to nearby vets in the hope of locating a microchip so the animal can be reunited with its owners.

Watch commander Tim Taylor said: “A couple of people brought round a cat with a Felix tin of cat food stuck on its head.

“We tried a bit of soapy liquid to see if the head would slip out but when that didn’t work we used a tin opener on the other end so that the cat could see and then used a ring cutter to cut the cat out of it.

“The cat was a bit scared with the tin on its head and was scratching a bit but seemed all right once we had got it out.”

Are you the cat’s owners? Then contact The Argus on 01273 544530 or email neil.vowles@theargus.co.uk.