'Miracle' cat survives four weeks in burned-out building

Parker and four other cats were trapped by fire in the manager's flat on the left of the building

A "miracle" cat spent almost four weeks trapped in a burned-out building, after surviving a serious fire.

Seven-year-old Parker lived in the Queens Hotel in Blaenau Ffestiniog, which was almost completely destroyed by fire last July.

Four other cats belonging to the manager were rescued by the emergency services, but Parker had vanished, and was believed to have died in the fire.

But despite being badly burned, and suffering from breathing in smoke, he survived by drinking rainwater and was eventually freed from the building several weeks later.

Four cats were rescued from the fire, but there was no sign of Parker, who remained stuck in the burned-out building

Fire broke out in the Queens Hotel around 11:09 BST on Saturday 5th July – staff and residents managed to get out of the building quickly.

But five cats were trapped inside the manager's flat at the top of the burning building for most of the day while fire crews tackled the flames.

Angi Clinton, manager of the hotel at the time, said: "we thought nothing could have survived that fire – we didn't see any way that any of the cats were coming out.

"When the firefighters did manage to get in, they opened a door and four of my five cats jumped into their arms.

"They were all badly hurt – burned and suffering from breathing in smoke.

"But there was no sign of Parker."

Smelling of smoke, stained with soot and still suffering burns - but alive! Parker at the vet's after being stuck in the wreckage of the Queens Hotel

It would be three and a half weeks before anyone saw Parker alive again, a time when Angi Clinton says she had almost given up hope.

But then, late at night, someone spotted a cat around the roof of the burned-out building.

A group of people gathered in the dark and the pouring rain, and managed to coax him down using a ramp made out of scaffolding planks.

It was Parker: thin and emaciated, covered in soot and smelling of smoke, but alive.

The ghostly figure of a cat was spotted late at night on the roof of the burned-out building - after nearly four weeks stuck inside

Angi Clinton commented: "we knew he had been stuck in the building since the fire because he had sooty marks on him and stank badly of smoke.

"He had burns on his ears and the bottoms of his paws, but the vet gave him a clean bill of health and said the only thing he needed was some food.

"It's a miracle he survived the fire and then being stuck in a locked and boarded up building for weeks – he can only have stayed alive by drinking rainwater coming in through the open roof."

Angi Clinton has written a book about Parker's story

Angi and her friends believe Parker survived the fire by taking shelter underneath a bath – cat hair was found there when the building was being checked.

She has written a book about Parker's escape, and is selling copies to raise money to replace the possessions she lost in the fire.

Parker seems to have made a full recovery, and has regained the weight he lost, though his owners say he seems a little more reluctant to stray too far away humans.

They say they are just glad to have him alive after a devastating fire.