A cat named Batman was reunited with his family after going missing three years ago.

The not-so caped crusader was taken to the Animals Lost and Found in Kent charity after being seen lurking around a chip shop in Chatham and sleeping under cardboard.

He was brought in by a woman who had seen him in the area for around four years, but noticed his health deteriorate recently.

Nicknamed Jake by others in the town who had seen him, he arrived at the charity with a snotty nose, dirty feet and scars, as well as not being chipped or neutered.

Natasha McPhee, who set the charity up in 2013, said: "We took a photo then a live feed of him on our facebook group along side all the other stray animals we have in.

"On Friday we get a comment and a call from someone who believed this cat to be theirs and he had been missing for more than three years.

"The owners came to look at him, he went crazy meowing at them and jumped down to get out of his pen to greet them - something he hadn’t done since we’ve had him in.

'We all had tears in our eyes...'

"We all had tears in our eyes when it had sunk in that this was their cat Batman that they had rescued from someone who had moved away previously and they didn’t get a chance to neuter him before he ran off in search of some girlfriends.

"The owners are now off to get a cat box and set up a room for him to take him back home."

Natasha thanked all the people who had helped Batman by giving him scraps near the chip shop and the woman who finally brought him in to be looked at.

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