A furious mum says her family cat is "lucky to still be walking" after being shot with a catapult.

Ashford resident Charlotte Bains was shocked when nine-year-old Boo came home nursing a wound.

Warning: Graphic image below

"She returned home and appeared to have been either shot at or catapulted," she explained.

"She was bleeding from her neck, and when we had a look she had a big, deep hole."

Shortly afterwards, the Park Farm resident discovered a ball bearing on the floor, covered in blood.

"It had blood all over it and was the same size as the wound, so it was definitely what she was shot with," she explained.

"It's got some weight to it, and I would say is roughly a centimetre in diameter."

The moggy has thankfully begun to heal, but the incident has left her owner fearing it could have been worse.

"The wound has taken weeks to heal – she received it on January 29 – but it will leave a scar," she said.

"It was very close to her spine in her neck so she is incredibly lucky it landed in the fatty tissue right beside it.

"She's lucky to be walking really. My mum and I were both upset, we both work in the pet industry and love our pets dearly so it wasn’t nice to see.

"My mum is a mobile dog groomer and I am a pet sitter/dog walker, so we’re experienced when it comes to pet care – but neither of us had ever seen a wound like that."

Ashford has been plagued by the use of catapults for years, with shocking figures seeing it named the catapult crime capital of Kent.

The incidents have become so bad that one resident set up a petition to make carrying them illegal.

Neighbourhood Watch volunteer Peter New said: "This has been constant – we are not looking at something that has been suddenly dropped on us.

"The situation has been growing and growing.

"Pensioners, vulnerable and working people are having their windows shot out, their cars damaged or worse.

"We're seeing animals killed, runners and delivery drivers fired at. Something has to be done, because it's so hard for the police to do anything about it."