A CHEEKY cat gave her owners a fright after hopping on board a train and travelling for miles out of town.

One-year-old tortoiseshell cat Rosie from Shoebury boarded the service to Liverpool Street at Shoebury train station – much to the surprise of the other passengers on Sunday evening.

A kind NHS worker stepped in and rescued her and waited with her at Basildon train station until her owner arrived.

Pet finding group Tilley’s Angels also saw the post and rushed to the station with a cat box.

Owner and mum Nicola Groom, 46, said she was worried that if the cat travelled to London she would never get her back.

She said: “My daughter saw the pictures on Facebook and I was just panicking about her.

“She went out and hadn’t come home for her dinner but I assumed she would be back later.

“The girl who found her works for the NHS and she got her off the train and waited with her in a disabled toilet.

“I rushed to the station to get her and couldn’t believe it. I was so relieved and she was meowing and by our side all night long.”

She said her cat was frightened and is well known at Shoebury rail station.

The pet owner says she is so grateful to the woman who helped.

Becca Tuffin, 25, a health care assistant from Southend who saved the cat said it was certainly a surprise.

She said: “I saw something move out the corner of my eye and then I was like oh my gosh I think that was a cat.

“I didn’t expect to see it at all.

“I’m really happy she got home okay, especially with all the pet theft going on and I hope anyone would do the same as me.”

Ms Groom added she’s had issues in the past getting her cat to come inside.

She said: “I am going to get some flowers for the girl who helped Rosie. She’s not only a hero for the NHS but for Rosie too.

“I will be watching her even closer from now on.

“She’s so friendly and would just go up to anyone and she’s pretty brave too.”

She said they do not live far from the station and she expects the cat goes to the station often.