Image copyright Celia Hammond Animal Trust Image caption An animal charity says it has no idea where in Birmingham the cat came from

Appeals are being made to trace the owner of a cat which was driven to London from Birmingham on Christmas Day trapped in a car's engine.

The Celia Hammond Animal Trust said the tortoiseshell was discovered inside the car when it pulled up to a block of flats 130 miles (209km) from where the vehicle's journey began.

It said it suspected the "sweet" and "friendly" female feline was a pet.

But the cat is not microchipped and the trust has "no idea" where it is from.

In a post on Facebook, the trust said when the driver pulled up outside the flats in east London, people told him they could hear miaowing coming from the engine.

When the bonnet was opened, the cat was found in the engine compartment.

People outside the flats then took it in until it could be collected by the animal rescue charity, it added.

The trust said it has been checking lost pet sites in Birmingham and the Facebook post has received thousands of shares from social media users hoping to help trace the owner.

Ms Hammond said the cat was uninjured but "very frightened".

"We have no idea where the cat has come from at all," she said.

"The people who were there were more interested in getting the cat safe and didn't ask the man where in Birmingham he had come from and he didn't stay very long.

"It would be great if we could find the owner but it is a real needle in a haystack story."

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