A "miracle" cat has survived after being trapped in a car grill for nine days and driven around 80 miles.

Sharon Stirling's beloved moggy Jacob escaped the traumatic ordeal with just a bruised nose - despite being trapped without food or water.

The 49-year-old was devastated after thinking she had lost her cat Jacob - who she says never leaves home - and even started making posters to try and find him.

But little did she know the seven-year-old black and white cat had been stuck in the grill of her dad's car the whole time.

Sharon, who lives in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire had swapped cars with her dad Alex, 75, for the day on July 23 after he had a hernia operation and couldn't drive.

She says Jacob must have jumped into the grill of her dad's car before she took it to work the following day and then stayed in there for nine days.

Sharon, who has a cleaning business, said: "I got up for work around 6am and couldn't find Jacob, which was unusual because he never normally leaves for long.

"I went home from work around 10am to check if he was back but he still wasn't there.

"I was starting to get really worried but I went and did another job. He still wasn't back when I checked again at 1pm.

"I went down the street chapping on doors to ask if anyone had seen him.

"He gets scared very easily so I knew he hadn't gone away with anyone.

"I called cats protection but they hadn't heard anything so the next day I started getting posters made up to put through people's door."

But on Wednesday Sharron was shocked to get a phone call from her dad saying he had found Jacob -- stuck in the grill of the car.

She said: "My dad called me and said 'it's about the cat, I have got him and you'll never guess where I found him.'

"I couldn't believe it when he told me Jacob was in the grill and Dad was as shocked as me.

"He must have got in some time on Monday night and then been in there when I took the car to work in the morning and stayed there when I dropped the car back off at my dad's."

During the nine days Jacob was in the grill, Dad Alex, also from Kilmarnock, went to see a friend in Girvan, South Ayrshire - a round trip of around 80 miles.

Alex said he didn't notice anything different about the car but did tell Sharon there were a lot of cats hanging around it when it was parked on his drive during the week.

Sharon said: "Dad had the car parked with the grill up against the wall at his house, so he wouldn't have been able to see Jacob.

"It wasn't until he came out of Asda in Girvan on Wednesday that he saw something in the grill, he thought it was a seagull at first but then heard a meowing noise.

"He kept hearing it when he was loading the shopping into the car, so he got down and looked under the car and he could see a cats eye's shining.

"He still didn't know it was Jacob until he drove over to the vet and said I have a cat stuck in my grill.

"The vets couldn't get him out and told him he would need to go to the garage.

"Dad had to drive really slowly all the way home again and then fed Jacob some dry dog food until I got there.

"I couldn't believe it when I got there and saw Jacob in the grill.

"I had to drive to the Hyundai garage in Kilmarnock really slowly and just shouted help when I got there.

"No-one really believed me until they got the car up on the ramp and then they saw him - they said they had never seen anything like it before.

"Four guys were trying to help get Jacob out but he was really stuck. We got his legs out but we couldn't get his head.

"When we eventually edged him out he just clung to me. He was really dirty and really thin and when I took him to the vet they said he had lost 1kg.

"He was dehydrated, but some rain over the last few days had got into the grill so he got some water from that which kept him going."

Shocked vets couldn't believe Jacob had survived the ordeal with just a bruised nose, telling Sharron had it still been the hot weather he wouldn't have been so lucky.

Michael Wylde, 22, an aftercare sales advisor at Ingram Motoring Group in Kilmarnock - where the cat was rescued - said he couldn't believe it when Sharon came in.

He said: "She ran in saying 'I have had a catastrophe' we were all a bit confused. Then she said I have a cat stuck in the front of my car.

"We all ran out and heard the cat through the grill meowing -- we were all just completely shocked.

"I think the only other time I have seen something like it was when a rabbit got stuck in a bonnet, but not a household cat.

"We pried the front bumper off and eventually managed to squeeze him out after about 20 minutes.

"He seemed a bit scared with all the noise in the workshop, but we couldn't believe he was OK."