Alvin the adventure cat is found 50 miles away after being missing for 11 months

Oliver, eight, was distraught when his cuddle buddy Alvin mysteriously disappeared last September.

Mum Linny and dad Aiden scoured their home town of Woburn Sands to no avail.

“ Oliver was so upset that I had to tell him a story that Alvin had gone off on a big adventure, and was having so much fun that he might never come back,” said Linny.

Last week, a call from a vet in Croydon proved her ‘story’ had been uncannily correct.

“A couple brought in a stray black cat that had adopted them for a few days. The vet checked for a microchip - and it came up with our telephoner number!” said Linny. “I was off like a shot to bring him home.

Nobody has a clue how adventurer Alvin ended up in London. Linny believes he must have jumped in a car or van and then flitted between people who fed him.

“ He looks perfectly fit and well,” she said.

Alvin strolled back into the Lane’s house as if he’d never been away. He made a beeline for Oliver, who has hardly left his side since, his food bowl, and also his former companion cat Pumpkin.

“It was so amazing to see Oliver’s face. He asked his dad to pinch him in case it was all a dream!” said Linny, who has thanked the people of Woburn Sands and Aspley Guise who helped her search for Alvin last year.