Twelve firefighters, a road closure, a water cannon and 30 hours... to rescue a KITTEN from a tree
A dozen firefighters sealed off a road for hours and brought in a hydraulic hoist - to rescue a kitten.
They also used a water cannon - but that only forced the terrified animal to climb higher up the tree.
They eventually brought Cleo the kitten to safety after she had been stuck for 30 hours.
Happy ending: Firefighters are all smiles 30 hours after rescuing Cleo the cat in south London
Fire crews were called to a family's house at midday on Saturday in St Helier, Sutton, south London, after the 13-week-old cat was unable to get down from the 50ft tree in their front garden.
The kitten's owner, stay-at-home mother Zara McIntosh, thanked firefighters and the RSPCA for saving Cleo.
Miss McIntosh, 38, said: 'We were doing the gardening on Friday morning when our two cats, Cleo and Figaro, both went up the tree but Cleo wouldn't come down.
Scene: The tree in the St Helier street, Sutton, where mischievous Cleo the kitten got stuck for 30 hours
'We tried everything, including coaxing it down with microwaved cat food so she would pick up the smell, but nothing was going to tempt her. Our four-year-old son was really upset.
'The next day firefighters [from Mitcham] came and first tried using a water cannon to scare her into coming down, but that just made the cat go further up the tree.
'She ended up being at the very top of it.'
It was not until firefighters from Wimbledon arrived, with a cherry picker-style hydraulic device, that a fireman was able to remove the cat from the tree.
Miss McIntosh said she was then advised to put wire mesh around the base of the tree so that the cat could not get itself in another perilous situation.
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