THE oldest cat in the world – born in the same month as rapper Dizzee Rascal – is living in Orpington.

Cola the black cat turns 28 – 140 in cat years – in November, trumping 27-year-old Wadsworth, a cat from Bedfordshire who was previously thought to hold the crown.

Cola was born in Cottage Avenue, Bromley Common, in 1985, when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister and Back to the Future topped the box office.

She is owned by Mary Goldsmith, of Brow Crescent, and was mothered by Molly, a moggy owned by Mrs Goldsmith's mother-in-law.

Mrs Goldsmith puts Cola's long life down to "a lot of love and attention and just being looked after".

The 66-year-old said: "She cannot jump up and down like she used to but she can still get up into her chair.

"She is still very cuddly; she's a very happy cat.

"She used go out go out a lot more, when she was a young cat, and she would bring back birds and mice.

"She may not be as sprightly as she used to be but she's still got some zip in her."

Mrs Goldsmith says Cola enjoys eating a range of foods including chicken, tuna, milk and cream, but her favourite food is haddock.

She added: "I think she's still got a couple of years left. It'll be a very sad day when something happens.

"I'll probably do something for her in November but really every day is a celebration, every day I still have her is like a birthday."