AS black cats go, he has to be one of the luckiest.

Draco the 13-year-old old moggy who disappeared from his Harberton home was found trapped in the engine of a car in Kingsbridge.

Draco was discovered when the vehicle went in for its MOT and the mechanic lifted the bonnet to find the distressed feline.

His owner, Damian Phoenix, said: 'He was missing for a week and I thought he had disappeared for good. He is so lucky to be alive. I had almost given up hope when a week later I couldn't believe it when I was told he had been found under the bonnet of a car.'

The vehicle had been parked outside the home of Damian's neighbours, Lynda Walsh.

'It was my daughter, Emma's,' Lynda explained. 'That Saturday evening she drove it back to her home in Malborough, where she left it in the village car park until Friday when she took it for its MOT. When she went to pick it up from the garage the mechanic said the car had passed, but they weren't too sure about the cat.'

Steve Solomon, who was carrying out the MOT said: 'I opened the bonnet and was changing a bulb in one of the lights when the cat jumped out from the back of the engine.'

Draco is home and recovering well, enjoying home comforts, getting back to his old self.