Feline fans on the prowl in Brighton cat tour

Organisers told the BBC that 164 tickets were sold in the first 24 hours

Two hundred cat enthusiasts took to the streets of Brighton on Sunday for what the organiser believed was the "UK's first cat tour".

Brighton Cat Tour followed a planned 4.8km (2.98 mile) route stretching from Seven Dials to Hanover, with 25 cat owners volunteering their homes as pitstops to show off their pets.

Stefan Gutierrez, the charity event's organiser, said 105 homes registered interest after a TikTok video promoting the event in August reached almost 100,000 views.

"It's a very wholesome event which brings the local community and elsewhere to Brighton," he told the BBC.

Mr Gutierrez said a viral cat tour in Toronto, Canada, in 2024 inspired the Brighton version.

He said people from as far afield as France, America, Ireland and Wales bought tickets for the occasion.

"It's an event where I hope people can make friends," he said.

Prior to the walk, the event raised over £1,750 for City Cat Shelter in Coldean.

'We're all cat obsessed'

Liz Scofield said that as soon as the tour popped up on her Facebook feed, she booked it for her family.

"We're all cat obsessed," she said.

Twelve volunteers helped organise the route and kept five waves of 40 participants safe, according to Mr Gutierrez.

He said getting full permission from the council, completing risk assessments and getting insurance was "quite stressful" as a solo organiser.

Volunteer marshal Nia Wildblood hoped people who bought solo tickets could make friends

Nia Wildblood also spotted the event on social media and thought it was a "fantastic thing" to volunteer for with her husband.

"It was a great way for folks to come together to see this amazing city," she said.

"I understand a lot of people bought solo tickets – it's a brilliant opportunity to get to know people that they might not otherwise talk to."

Cleo Oland rescued two of her three cats from Bahrain

Cleo Oland has been running a cat-sitting business for seven years and said she wanted to get involved after seeing the Toronto Cat Tour.

She adopted one of her three cats, Ashai, from the streets of Bahrain through feline welfare charity Rescat.

"It was really hard for him to be adopted because he was in a really poor condition and he had high medical bills," Ms Oland said.

Ashai, who has Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) – a cat-specific virus that weakens the immune system, making them prone to infections – proved popular on the tour, meeting visitors on the street as they arrived.

Elodie Grenville said her cat Pixie enjoys travelling in a rocket cat carrier

Elodie Grenville also joined the tour before stopping to show her own cat Pixie.

"Who can resist meeting a bunch of cats?" she asked.

"Hopefully people will see the videos from this event and maybe they can spread it in their own city and bring it to their own country," Mr Gutierrez said.

"United by cats – imagine that."