A pet lover was left "shocked" after her newly purchased hamster escaped and was found on a bus.

Louene Rothwell had gone into Pets at Home in Crayford, near the border with Dartford, to buy some fish when she came across the black and white rodent and fell in love.

The 55-year-old said: "I am mad about pandas and he was black and white so I thought I had to take him home. It was spur of the moment"

Staff put him in two boxes which Louene then placed into her shopping bag while she made the journey home.

She left the pet shop last night and boarded the 96 bus and then the 89 bus towards her house near Colyers Lane, Erith.

"I got on the bus and never thought anything of it. I was checking on the bag and it looked all fine, nothing seemed to change," the mid-day supervisor and lollipop lady added.

"I got home and started preparing the cage and looked and he had completely vanished.

"I was mortified thinking where on earth did it escape. I was panicking and looking all around the house and down the road."

The mum-of-eight phoned the Pets at Home store to let them know he was missing when she realised he was not at her house and went onto Facebook to see if anyone had seen him.

Within minutes she was contacted and told he had been found on the 89 bus and was at Bexleyheath bus station – around two miles away from where he was last seen.

Her friend's boyfriend who worked at the garage drove the grandmother-of-12 straight there to collect the hamster she has now called Panda 89 Metro as he was put in the newspaper box on the bus.

Louene believes he must have chewed his way through the boxes and escaped from the side of the bag.

She said: "I was shocked. It was a slim chance he would have been seen. I could not believe it. I never thought I would see the hamster again and I was so overwhelmed when I was told.

"I was so grateful. I could not believe he chewed through two boxes. I am so glad to have him home safe and well."

A spokesman for the bus company, Go-Ahead London, said: "The company can confirm that a pet hamster was reunited with its owner after it briefly managed to evade them while being transported on a Route 89 bus last Friday.

"The hamster was spotted when the bus returned to Bexleyheath Garage and was cared for by Go-Ahead London colleagues. A social media appeal, speedily initiated by a garage-based official, resulted in the owner collecting their pet, which has since been called 'Panda 89 Metro'.

"Events of this kind are very rare and we are delighted to have quickly returned the hamster to its rightful keeper.

"Inoffensive animals, such as cats or others, are allowed on London's buses in a suitable carrier."