Missing Hartlepool cat reunited with owners after six months on the run thanks to supermarket worker

Beth Tate, who is a security worker at Asda, in Marina Way, Hartlepool was doing perimeter checks on her late night shift when she spotted a frightened cat in the car park.

As it was very cold, she was concerned about the animal’s welfare and so she took a photo before starting to scour local pet pages on social media to track down his owners.

The photo matched that of Ozzie – who had gone missing in August on his way to Vets 4 Pets after running across a busy road and into fields - so Beth messaged the owners.

Jade Malone, who shares one-year-old Ozzie with housemate Sasha Dickenson, said: "We couldn't believe it. We really had given up all hope of finding him.

"We'd only had a him a few days and were taking him to the vets when he escaped.

"We looked all over for him, put posters up and pleas on Facebook too. We'd been to see a few cats who people thought was Ozzie, but it wasn't him."

After Beth had messaged her, Jade went to look for Ozzie without success.

The next day one of Jade's friends, Josh O'Connor, called to the store and spotted Ozzie sitting in the car park.

Jade, who lives in the Burn Valley area of town, said: "He just went up to him and picked Ozzie up straight away, put him in his car car and brought him here. We couldn't believe it.

"We can't thank Beth enough for what she did. Taking the trouble to search Facebook for lost cats was a really caring thing to do.”

Ozzie was checked over by a vet and is thankfully fine.

Beth, who has worked at the Asda store on Marina Way for 10 years, said she kept comparing the photo she took of Ozzie with image of other pets on Facebook until she found him.

She said: "The owners were over the moon when they got him back so it had a good end to the story."

Anne Walker, Asda Hartlepool's customer trading manager, added: “"It was great work from Beth. She not only keeps our customers and colleagues safe, but also any unexpected visitors.”