A curious cat who curled up on the roof of an Avanti West Coast train at Euston has won nationwide notoriety.

Newspapers and broadcasters across the UK recorded the exploits of the anonymous moggy after he – or she – was pictured in blatant disregard of safety protocols.

The cat was seen curled up on top of the Pendolino train 30 minutes before it was due to make its journey to Manchester on March 2, while it was stationed at the platform.  

To rescue the frightened feline, the train was taken out of service and another train made available, so customers could continue their journey. 

It took the purr-suasive station team and Avanti West Coast staff nearly two and half hours to safely coax the cat from the dangers of the 25,000-volt overhead lines that power the trains. A bin was pulled alongside the train to give the scared cat a platform to disembark. 

Kathrin Pranga-Wells, Lead Station Manager at Euston for Avanti West Coast, said: “The things some pets do to avoid lockdown. Thankfully, we managed to avoid a cat-astrophe but it’s a bit of a mystery how the cat got up there!”

Joe Hendry, Network Rail Station Manager for Euston, said: “We often have to deal with birds inside the station but in all my time here this is the first train surfing cat! Thankfully curiosity didn’t kill this cat and we’re glad it avoided using up one of its nine lives thanks to the swift action of the station team and Avanti West Coast staff who organised for passengers to get onto a different train for the rescue to take place.”

Seemingly unaware of how close it was to losing one of its lives, the moggy was one cool cat with station staff describing it ‘swaggering off’ after its escapade.