ADDINGHAM'S favourite cat has been returned to its owner who feared it had been catnapped.

Smartie, the ginger tomcat, is known throughout the village. He regularly tours the Main Street shops and businesses usually in the company of his friend, a black labrador dog.

However, consternation broke out when the friendly feline went missing on May 5. Villagers reported they had seen it being driven off in a car and the police were called in to investigate.

Lizzie Lister, the cat's owner, said earlier this week that she and her sons had been devastated by the cat's disappearance.

Mrs Lister, 31, took to driving around the streets of a nearby village in the hope of finding her pet.

She said: "My three-year-old son, Ben, was getting increasingly distressed and so was I. We were getting nowhere fast."

Mrs Lister, of Rose Bank, said the cat had become a firm member of the family since he had been rescued from drowning eight months ago.

She said: "He is not a pedigree. He is just a ginger and white moggie. He does have a friendly disposition."

The errant cat had become a familiar sight in the village as he made regular jaunts around the community with his doggy pal.

Mrs Lister said: "He is very much the village cat as well. He goes to the old people's home, most of the shops on Main Street and the nursery.

"He has used up his nine lives dodging the traffic and climbing on the Memorial Hall roof. I knew that he would get into trouble because he is so friendly."

When Mrs Lister reported the matter to Ilkley police, Sergeant Peter Corkindale assured her that the disappearance of her cat was being treated seriously.

He told her: "We have got two counties looking for this cat."

He said that a briefing note had been put out to officers in West and North Yorkshire to be on the lookout for the missing moggie.

But he said that police had been keeping an open mind as to whether the cat had been stolen or had just wandered off.

"Tomcats have a propensity for going missing for days on end," said Sgt Corkindale.

In a development which delighted Mrs Lister and her family on Tuesday, Smartie was returned home by police officers. The police said that the officers involved were still investigating the circumstances of the cat's disappearance.

Feeling like the cat that had got the cream, Mrs Lister said yesterday: "I am delighted.

"I did nothing but cry last night I am so glad to have him back.

"He was a bit distressed at first but he is back to normal now. He has not suffered at all."

But because of fears that Smartie might go missing again he has been grounded by his owner.

"I am very, very nervous to be honest, to let him out. I will be keeping him in for the forseeable future."