CHOCOLATE the cat is back in his Ammanford home this week – a month after he went missing!

The six-year-old tomcat was given up as lost after disappearing from his Heol Las home on December 11, leading owner Irena Hopkins to fear he had been cat-napped.

But Mrs Hopkins – mayor of Ammanford – received a pleasant shock on Saturday when a considerably leaner Chocolate re-appeared, crying to be fed.

"Chocolate's a heck of a character," she told the Guardian.

"He's supposed to be a Persian but I've never seen a Persian like him – and he's not even chocolate coloured, he's more black with a white front.

"We think he became trapped before Christmas in a house that's being done up two doors down from us," she said. "How he managed to survive without food for an entire month we'll never know.

"We'd all given him up as lost, so you can imagine how shocked we were when my son rang on Saturday to say Chocolate had turned up making a heck of a noise outside the house.

"He hasn't stopped eating since then – and when he's left alone he starts crying, so he's obviously a bit traumatised by what happened.

"We're obviously thrilled to bits to have him back, although I suppose exactly what happened to him will always remain a mystery.

"If only that cat could talk!"