A moggy has been saved after falling down a 15ft shaft inside St Paul’s Cathedral.
An upset schoolgirl saw the puss vanish under a slab of concrete in the courtyard of the capital landmark.
The cat then got stuck in the basement.
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The RSPCA were then called to the world famous cathedral, in central London.
Sidonie Smith, animal rescue officer with the charity, clambered down with a torch and pet carrier to try and find the Burmese cat.
No one had been in the basement for 25 years.
The grey moggy – now named Paula because of where she was found- had luckily landed on a bed of leaves and was not hurt.
The RSPCA has taken her in and are now trying to find her a new owner.
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Ms Smith said: “We were called by a young teenager who was playing in the churchyard after school.
“And she’d seen the cat run off and vanish underneath a slab of concrete.
“She was very upset, but she was able to give me a W3W geotrack Location of the point where the cat had disappeared and I went to it.”
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She added: “When I spoke to security about gaining access it turned out it was an opening down to an old storage basement that apparently no-one has used a key to get down to for 25 years
“There were some steep, narrow stairs down and it was pitch black where you entered a large chamber, which had lots of corridors attached to it at higher levels.
“Fortunately, the cat had fallen onto a bed of leaves and she was largely unscathed.
“She was very nervous and frightened, no doubt through the shock of falling from height, and I had to grasp hold of her.
“She had a slight graze on her chin, but, happily, nothing was broken and she was able to move around.”
The cat had been microchipped but the registered owner had sold her four years ago, as reported on What’s The Jam.
She is now being looked after at the RSPCA centre, in West Malling, Kent.
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