A curious cat managed to rescue itself with the help of a conveniently placed fire ladder in Norbury this week.

Fire fighters from London Fire Brigade (LFB) in Croydon attended a property in on Harcourt Road in Thornton Heath on Wednesday (March 3) to find an inquisitive cat in some distress up a tree and unable to get back down.

They joined RSPCA workers in the rescue attempt, necessitated by the dizzying 25-foot height where the cat was reportedly stranded for 48 hours.

Thankfully, the fire crew in attendance managed to place a nine-metre fire ladder leading up the tree and down from where the cat found itself trapped.

Tentatively, it then made its way to safety, as one firefighter successfully documented in a short video.

Station Commander Richard Hamilton, who was at the scene, said:

"Firefighters went to the aid of the cat after the RSPCA requested our assistance as they didn’t have the equipment to reach it.

"Once they’ve pitched the ladder, crews would usually go up to try and retrieve the cat, but the RSPCA inspector advised us to stand back and sure enough, it made its own way down the ladder.

"We couldn’t believe it - I’ve been in more than 25 years and I’ve never seen a cat do that before.

"The poor cat had apparently been up there more than 48 hours, but seemed fine when it came down – it just ran off without so much as a thank you.

"The work of a firefighter is varied and involves all sorts of different incidents and we are ready, willing and able to assist distressed or injured animals.

"The last thing we want is for people to put themselves at risk rescuing an animal themselves – but we do encourage people to call the RSPCA in the first instance and we will assist if our specialist equipment is required, as in this case."