A mother cat was rescued after spending five days trapped in an old water tank.

The pet moggie named Nammon had just given birth to three kittens before she went missing in Phetchabun province, north-central Thailand.

Her worried owner Wipanee Srisin, 34, searched for her in the area until she found the animal trapped on the bottom of an abandoned concrete tank of a school five days later on August 9.

The cat lover then immediately called the animal rescuers for help who climbed up the 15ft-high water tank and lured the cat out with a rope.

Wipanee said: ‘I thought Nammon was hit by a car and died somewhere as it is not normal for a mother cat to leave its kittens behind for days.

‘I searched our neighbourhood until I heard her crying in a school that was close to my house. I remember feeling very happy when I saw Nammon alive in the water tank.’

A rescue volunteer formed a noose at the end of the rope and used it to hook the body of the cat. The animal appeared to have trouble moving so the team member carefully pulled the rope with the injured cat hooked in.

After almost an hour, the cat was freed from the hole and was returned to its owner. Wipanee then gave the cat some food and water before going to a veterinarian for check up.

The mother cat was now sent home together with its kittens where it was recovering from an injured leg it sustained upon falling in the tank.