A cat had to be rescued after it was hit by a car and trapped inside the bumper.

The moggy was crossing a road when it was struck by the blue Toyota Vios in Lampang, northern Thailand on October 28.

The shocked driver pulled over after hearing a loud thud and checked outside the car but the feline was nowhere to be found.

She thought that the cat had walked away so she continued driving, but it had climbed inside her engine and was trapped.

The woman only found the cat inside her car after hearing it cry when she stopped around five minutes later.

She said: "I was driving my car in the morning as usual but I was startled after hitting a cat. I'm glad the animal survived."

The woman, who had been on her way to work, stopped her car at the gas station to check and found the adult cat stuck inside the narrow space between the engine and the bumper.

The woman called the emergency services for help and the Sawang Lampang Rescue team responded.

The rescue volunteers tried to lure the cat out but it seemed frightened and hid deeper inside the engine. They were finally able to pull it out after almost half an hour.

The cat did not have any injuries so it was released after being fed.

Rescuers believe that the cat had just recently given birth so they returned it to the area where it was hit hoping that it would return to find its kittens.