A petrified kitten was stuck up a large tree for more than a day before being rescued by firefighters in a large-scale operation which closed off a residential road for hours.

Fire crews from Mitcham and Wimbledon were called to a family’s house at midday on Saturday, April 30, in Green Wrythe Lane, St Helier, after the 13-week-old cat was unable to get down from the 50ft tree in their front garden.

The kitten’s owner, stay-at-home mum Zara McIntosh, thanked firefighters and the RSPCA for saving Cleo the cat, which had been stuck for a total of 30 hours.

Miss McIntosh, 38, said: “We were doing the gardening on Friday morning when our two cats, Cleo and Figaro, both went up the tree but Cleo wouldn’t come down.

“We tried everything, including coaxing it down with microwaved cat food so she would pick up the smell, but nothing was going to tempt her. Our four-year-old son was really upset.

“The next day firefighters [from Mitcham] came and first tried using a water cannon to scare her into coming down, but that just made the cat go further up the tree.

"She ended up being at the very top of it.”

It was not until firefighters from Wimbledon arrived, who brought a cherry picker-style hydraulic device, that a fireman was able to remove the cat from the tree.

Miss McIntosh said she was then advised to put wire mesh around the base of the tree so that the cat could not get itself in another perilous situation.

Did you see what happened? Leave a comment below, call 020 8722 6335 or email: ooakes@london.newsquest.co.uk.