"Now I know black cats really are lucky"

Last summer I got a rather odd call out to a woman member driving a Seat Ibiza. She had driven from her home in Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire, to the school where she worked in Earith, a journey of about 25 miles - so she wasn't just popping down the road.

She had parked in the school grounds and was going to the main entrance when she heard a meow coming from her car. At first she thought that a cat must have crawled underneath after she had parked, so she got down on her knees and looked - nothing. When the meow came again, she realised that it was coming from under the bonnet, and sure enough, when she opened it there was a little black kitten trapped behind the radiator. So she called the AA - as you do.

When I got to the school and saw the poor little mite wedged in, I realised that I was going to have to take a few engine parts out to get to him. Whilst I was doing this I asked her if it was her kitten and she said no. She then said that she lived near a farm where there were some feral cats roaming around so it could be one of those. I asked her where that was, and when she told me I was gob smacked. "It's a miracle he's still alive," I said.

Eventually I managed to free him and the member was so smitten by him she said that she would take him to a vet and keep him. That's when I suggested that she call him Lucky.

Dave Fendley, AA Patrol