A red-faced homeowner is trying to reunite his neighbours with items stolen from their gardens – by his mischievous pet cat.
Paddy, a five-year-old Norwegian Forest cat, bag of booty has grown so large that owner Paul Terry is using Facebook to try to find the victims and return the items.
It includes 25 flowerpots, dog bone soft toys, a toy banana, an orchid with its pot, three pegs, a Manchester United football, a box of assorted screws, a KFC burger box and sandwich boxes.
Mr Terry, of Newmarket, Suffolk, said: “It’s hilarious. Other cats bring home dead mice but he (Paddy) doesn’t. I’ve been waving £20 notes in his face to see if he can get those instead.
“You sit there at night, you hear a meow and then round the back door somewhere there he is with a new item.
“I’ve got five cats all together, and he’s the only one that does it.
“I’m having to post the stolen items on Facebook to see if neighbours can claim them back, which quite a few have.”
Paul, who is a painter and decorating manager for C J Murfitt Ltd in Ely, Cambs, has owned Paddy for three years.
He was previously owned by a friend who claimed Paddy had been taking items all his life.
Paul said: “It’s usually every other day. Sometimes it’s daily, sometime’s it’s weekly.
“I thought at some point someone was playing a prank on me but I’ve seen him carry some items. And they’re heavy ones as well. He jumps over fences.
“It’s just so stupid. He brings home so much rubbish. He’s like a Womble.
“The main thing he steals is dogs toys. I was most impressed when he brought a lily in a plant pot home.
“He climbed over fences with it and managed not to spil it and keep everything in the pot.
“I have no idea how he did it.”
Mr Terry lives at his home in Newmarket with his wife Lesley, 45.