THERE'S no place like home for Sadie the cat - and she undertook an incredible journey to prove it.

Six-year-old Sadie spent eight months searching out her old home, in a perilous journey which involved crossing several major roads.

She fended for herself until she eventually found the house in Highfield, Farnworth, where she had grown up.

Owner Ann-Marie Hutchinson had reluctantly decided to part with Sadie and a second cat, Bacardi, in April last year, after she started suffering from asthma.

The cats, which she had reared from kittens at her Martin Avenue home, were taken to a friend's house at Cemetery Road, Kearsley, three miles away.

"It was a tough decision, but they settled down fine," said Ann Marie.

But Bacardi died, then, at the end of May, Sadie disappeared.

"She has always been a cat who would fend for herself and go hunting, so I wasn't too worried," said Ann-Marie.

"To be honest, I thought some old lady could have taken her in."

But she was amazed when she heard a noise at her back door early on Monday morning and opened it to see Sadie standing there as if she had never been away.

"I was dumbfounded," she said.

"I thought I might have been seeing a ghost!

"She just stood there as bold as brass.

"She's a bit thinner than she was, but otherwise she's ok."

News that Sadie had returned delighted Ann Marie's children: Kate, aged 16, Lucy, 14, and eight-year-old Nathan.

Ann-Marie said: "I have never seen Kate get out of bed so fast in my life!"

After a quick meal, Sadie made herself at home again in her favourite place - under Kates bed - before cuddling up with her best friend, the family's pet dog Murphy.

"I wish she could talk," said Ann-Marie.

"She has obviously had a tremendous journey."

She figures Sadie must have crossed the busy A666 dual carriageway, as well as Bolton Road, Albert Road and several other roads to reach home.

"I wonder how many lives she has got left," she added.

Sadie's wanderings are now over.

Ann-Marie's asthma is under control and she says she cannot bear to part with her adventurous cat.

"She obviously wants to be here," she said.

"I am not going to let her go again."