Scaredy cat stuck in a POLE lot of trouble as fireman performs dramatic rescue

These remarkable pictures show a lucky black cat being saved by firemen – after getting stuck perched on top of a 20ft high telegraph pole for 18 hours.

Eye-witness Raymond Keech, 65, snapped the dramatic rescue of the stricken moggy, balanced perilously on the narrow wooden pole with its back arched in fear.

Concerned residents rang the RSPCA when they realised the cat had been stuck there since Friday afternoon.

Animal welfare officers then called fire-fighters to the scene in Irthlingborough. Northants., at 11.41am on Saturday morning.

The crew held a tarpaulin sheet around the bottom of the pole before a fireman used a ladder to climb to the top and hook the cat in a net on a long pole.

Once the frightened puss had been lowered to safety it was left in the care of RSPCA officers who confirmed it was unharmed, though quite hungry.

Grandfather-of-four Raymond said: ”It was quite a funny rescue. The poor thing had been stuck up there overnight.

”The fire service had to wait about four hours for the electricity board to come and switch the power off. The it only took about 10 minutes for actual rescue.

”It was quite a circus really, all the neighbours were out there watching.

”The cat was a bit put out was spitting away, but as soon as they opened the net it was gone.”

Retired engineer Raymond, who lives with his wife Patricia, 63, said he believed the cat belonged to a young lady who lived nearby.

A spokeswoman for Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service said they sent a pumping appliance and a specialist officer to the scene.

She said: ”This was not something we would normally attend but the request came from the RSPCA.

”One cat was rescued from an electricity pole using two ladders and the RSPCA provided us with a catch net and pole.”