A SPECIAL feline that was rescued from a scolding hot van engine has been reunited with its owners – who live 60 miles away.

The ginger tom cat was found wedged behind the heater of a broken down van in Reading on August 28 and eased to safety by animal lover Darren Sumner.

It turns out the cat, named Simba, belonged to a five-year-old girl who suffers with type one diabetes, and Simba has a knack of telling the girl’s mother when her daughter’s blood sugar levels are low.

Gemma Davis, a mother of two, said: “My daughter Imogen has type one diabetes and Simba seems to know when her blood sugar levels are dropping at night.

“He vanishes and I find him curled up on Imogen’s bed and when I check her blood sugar levels she’s low.

“The first three or four times it happened I thought it was a co-incidence but it’s happened about a dozen times now so I think he definitely senses something is going on. It’s so nice to know there’s someone else looking out for her, especially at night time.”

The Davis family, who live in Tottenham, feared that Simba had been ran over and killed when he did not return home.

In fact he had managed to get himself stuck in the engine of a van and travel all the way to Reading.

When he was miraculously discovered, he had no microchip, and there was no way of telling where he had come from.

Thankfully a Facebook campaign helped to re-unite Simba, who was nicknamed Sparky when he was found, with his owners.

Mrs Davis added: “I told Imogen he was having an adventure somewhere but as the days went by I stopped telling her he was coming back. We had almost given up hope of seeing him again when my husband spotted him on Facebook - we couldn’t believe it. It was such a relief to know he had survived such an amazing journey in a van engine and was safe and well.”

Helena Peace, from RSPCA Reading and Oxon borders branch, urged pet owners to make sure their furry friends are microchipped, adding: “You could say Simba had a full MoT during his stay with us. He was very lucky that the van broke down as he was in a very distressed state, extremely warm and had very hot paws. If his journey had continued, he may not have survived.”