A cat who was missing for 10 days has been rescued after being found trapped down a well.

Flea went missing from her home in Loddington in Northamptonshire on April 24, and her owners – sisters Freya and Keira Hill – had been searching for her ever since.

She was eventually found by neighbours who heard cries coming from their 20-foot well on Tuesday and called in firefighters for help.

Freya Hill, 22, said Flea, who is less than a year old, was “bedraggled and hungry” when they got her home, but otherwise healthy.

She told the PA news agency: “She’s quite unfazed by the ordeal and happy to be back I think.

“We’re relieved she’s home and we’re thankful to everyone that helped.”

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service said a crew cut the grate from the top of the well before one member went down to retrieve the cat.

There was about a foot of water at the bottom but Flea “had managed to climb on to a small ledge”, the service said in a tweet.

Ms Hill, a freelance gardener, said she and her sister had made appeals on social media as well as putting up posters in the village, but were beginning to fear the worst.

“We perhaps thought she’d been hit by a car or something so obviously we were thinking perhaps the worst happened to her because it’s out of character for her to go missing for any length of time,” she said.

Ms Hill described Flea as “friendly” and “quite cheeky”, adding: “She has a habit of wandering off with people and trying to make friends with lots of people.

“She likes to jump in cars and go for road trips.”

Now Flea is home she has been reunited with her brothers, Mr Codsworth and Mac, who Ms Hill said were “confused” by her absence and have been “pleased to see her”.

She added: “They gave her lots of attention and helped her to get dry and warm.”