Cheeky cat sneaks onto Stansted Airport train and heads into busy terminal
A cat living in a village near a major UK airport stunned its owner this week when he jumped aboard a train and headed to the terminal.
The ginger Tom - called Zeus - is well known for his adventures in Stansted Mountfitchet frequently being seen in pubs, offices and shops. But owner Lily Burroughs-Evans, 27, was amazed when she discovered he had boarded the train for the airport.
British Transport Police and the train operator Greater Anglia were both then involved and successfully ensured Zeus was found. Zeus is so well known in the area that a local who works at London Stansted Airport was aware of his exploits and brought him home.
His latest adventure onboard the Stansted Express delighted people on the village Facebook page. When someone posted that he was at the airport waiting to be collected. 'Zeus, such a legend. Fancied travelling to the airport,' said one amused reader. Recently the Mirror revealed how British passport holders are urged to do one important thing before October 12.
"I wonder where he was thinking of going?' said another. Lily said: 'He's a nightmare, but I love him to bits!
'I know he has toyed with the idea a couple of times as people have shooed him off. Then I saw the post on Facebook on Tuesday that he had ended up at the airport. I phoned the British Transport Police who got in touch with the Greater Anglia office at the airport.
'A woman who works there lives in Stansted and knew him well so he came back with her on the train. She handed him over to Sabrina, who works in the ticket office, who took him back home for me.' She added: 'When we first moved to Stansted his first outing was to the train station when he visited the lady in the ticket office. He's then got bolder and bolder and harasses everyone for cuddles.
'He regularly visits the Co-op and has been known to take a nap on the Whiskers (cat food) shelf! He's been into Murdoch's estate agents, the King's Arms, the social club and Lower Street Brasserie.' Lily works as an interiors architect for a London-based firm and so boards a train from the village every day. 'He has seen me boarding the train before and is quite curious and I think this time he just thought 'I'm going to get on'.
Zeus shares his home with his sister, Misty, and two other cats, Beaux, 5, Ino, 6, and Lily and her partner, Charlie, 32. Lily said he was microchipped and she had now bought him a harness with a tracker on it as he had previously wriggled out of his collars.
I'm just glad he boarded a train to the airport and not London,' she said. 'He does cross the tracks to the other platform, but I think he can feel the vibrations when a train is coming, so is quite street smart.'
Lily has had Zeus since he was a kitten when they lived in Saffron Walden next to open farmland. 'He was used to wandering far and wide and when we moved here, he liked seeing all the people, he's very sociable. His sister and the other two cats are not quite so bold, but Zeus captures everyone's hearts, he knows he is so beautiful!'
A Greater Anglia spokesperson said: "We were happy to arrange Zeus' return trip on the Stansted Express and ensure that he was safely reunited with his owners. It seems as though he enjoyed cat-ching the train."
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