A cat has been praised after alerting his 'panicked' owner to a potentially dangerous situation that could have ended in disaster.
A gas engineer was called to a property in Swansea, Wales to find the source of a gas leak that could have "blown the house down" – and it was the hero cat that showed him where to look.
Sean Evans, a plumber gas engineer, received a call out after the owner said she could hear noises, and he instantly knew there was an issue as he walked in the property due to the smell.
However, when it came to finding out where the issue was arising from, he received help from an unlikely hero.
The Swansea cat can been scratching and digging at a particular area of the carpet, giving a hint that the gas engineer should take a closer look at what was underneath.
Mr Evans, company director of Beautiful Heating, decided to focus his search on the area where the cat was clawing, and when he lifted the carpet and flooring he found a gas leak directly underneath.
The 53-year-old from Penlan, Swansea, told Wales Online: "A lady was panicking. She phoned the gas board because she could hear noises under the floor, and the gas board told her to call a plumber, so I went out the morning after."
He added: "As soon as I got through the door I could smell gas. I did the usual tests in the house and there was a massive gas drop. I said to her, 'Let's trust the animals, where has the cat been digging?', trusting the animal's instinct.
"I couldn't hear anything, but pulled the carpet back and I could hear the gas leak directly underneath where the cat was digging under the carpet."
The plumber lifted the floorboards, and saw there was a hole in the pipe directly under where the cat had been digging.
He added: "Whether it heard the hissing noise or what, I don't know. I think I need to employ it!"
According to the Mr Evans, the gas leak was so big that if she had switched the light on, it could have "blown the house down".
He knew it was a big leak because both Mr Evans and the owner could smell something, and then when he tested the gas meter it dropped from "21 straight to zero". According to the plumber, the drop is usually very slow.
Mr Evans continued: "I turned the gas off, cut a section of the pipe away and renewed the section of the pipework. I've been self-employed for 20 years and I haven't been helped by a cat before! They normally try and avoid us at all costs!"
The plumber said he has never seen a cat dig at a gas leak before.
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