A cat has been reunited with her owners in time for Christmas - four years after she went missing.

Luckily the microchip seven-year-old Lilly May was carrying had the details of her original owner.

The moggy was found abandoned on Saturday, in Northdown Road, Cliftonville, Margate.

A neighbour believed she belonged to a family who had just moved out of their flat and had left her behind.

She had been living on a sofa left outside the building for five weeks.

A quick scan of her microchip revealed she had originally belonged to a family who lived a mile away in Glencoe Road and had been reported missing in 2012.

Lilly May's owner, Lisa Stanley, said: “We just could not believe it when they brought her home. It didn’t seem real at first.

"She was my son’s cat, who was seven at the time and is now 12, so it has been amazing for him to have her back, the best kind of Christmas present I can think of" - Lisa Stanley

“When she went missing four years ago we looked everywhere and tried everything, Facebook, missing posters, the works. When it all came to nothing we gave up hope.

“She was my son’s cat, who was seven at the time and is now 12, so it has been amazing for him to have her back, the best kind of Christmas present I can think of.

“We are really grateful to the neighbour who fed her after the other family left her behind, and then reported this to the RSPCA. Without him we wouldn’t have her back.”

RSPCA inspector Claire Carter said it has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for Lilly May recently.

“First she was left abandoned for several weeks - forced to live outdoors, on a fly-tipped sofa, in all kinds of conditions," she said.

“Then I checked her for a microchip and discovered she was registered to someone who lived just a mile away.

“It was so lovely to reunite her with her family - they were so delighted to have her home after so long. This story just shows how important it is to get your pet microchipped. We would have had no way of knowing that there was a loving family missing Lilly May if she did not have one.”