A cat that went missing from his home in Penicuik, Midlothian, has turned up more than a year later almost 500 miles away.

Sampson was handed in to a vets in Plymouth in Devon, and was identified by an identity chip.

Owner Linda Jansen is to be reunited with the cat on Wednesday.

She said: We thought we would never see him again but then, over a year since he went missing, I got a call from a veterinary surgery in Plymouth.

"At first I was sceptical about whether or not it was him but when the vet described him to me, I knew it was Sampson."

Sampson was rescued by Ms Jansen from a cat sanctuary in the borders. She had given up hope of seeing her cat again, and was surprised to hear from the English vets

She said: "I couldn't sleep at all after I got the call. I had given up on seeing him again. The odd thing is that he is a very bad traveller, he always gets car sick when he travels so I can't imagine him lasting on a long road trip like that."

Edinburgh-based Eagle Couriers have now offered to bring Sampson back to Penicuik free of charge.