A family watched on as part of their Chingford home was demolished so that their cat could be freed after being trapped for 16 hours.

Firefighters had to knock a wide hole and take up laminate flooring to rescue Patsy, a 13-year-old tabby, who became stuck in a three inch gap between the brickwork of two houses.

The unfortunate moggy, who lives with its owners in Hawkdene, sought refuge after she was chased by a neighbour's dog on Saturday at around midnight, according to neighbours.

Owner Jenny Coates, 23, did not discover Patsy until 10am the next morning and the RSPCA and Fire Brigade were alerted.

Firefighters from Enfield, Chingford and Edmonton spent four hours trying to free the cat, but struggled because of her size and the fact she was so far inside the cavity.

Hand tools were used to cut away brickwork and floorboards, but after several hours the pet became distressed and rescuers decided to call in heavy equipment.

A vet sedated Patsy for 20 minutes to make it easier to free her.

They used a Kango drill to knock down part of the wall and pneumatic drills, hand chisels and hammers broke away several layers of brickwork, before an RSPCA animal inspector was able to lift the cat free at 4pm. She is now recovering well from her ordeal.

Ms Coates said: "What is a shame is that we have recently had the extension built and now we have to get the builders back. I just hope the insurance company pay for the damage."

"The woman from the RSPCA said this was the worst case of a cat being stuck in her eight years of working for the charity "Fortunately Patsy had no injuries and was just a little dehydrated. It was the weirdest day in my life.

"I want to thank the firefighters and RSCPA for their help."

A London Fire Brigade spokesman said: "This was an unusual incident. I have never seen anything like it."