A cat named Beans, who disappeared from his home in October has surprised his owners by reappearing over 300 miles away weeks later. The ginger and white feline went missing after venturing out "as normal", leaving owners Cara, 40, and Colin McBurnie, 51, frantically searching their local area to no avail.

However, weeks later in November, they received an unexpected call from Cats Protection informing them that thanks to his microchip, Beans had been located in Coventry, 300 miles away form his home in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire.

Ms McBurnie said: "Beans loves to be outside and in gardens," and "He went out as normal because he likes to go for a wander but always comes home for some food, usually after a few hours. We searched and searched, looking everywhere. I’ve been out every day looking but thought something must have happened to him."

Despite joining numerous local lost and found Facebook pages, she admitted: "I didn’t really expect to see him again but joined lots of local lost and found Facebook pages, then further afield in Scotland. I didn’t think to look in England, I didn’t imagine he could have gone that far."

Beans had indeed travelled further than anyone could have imagined, ending up in the West Midlands where he was spotted by Kelly Ryan, who said: "I have an outdoor cat box with some straw in it and started noticing a cat hanging round."

She continued: "I didn’t feed him straight away as I thought he was probably owned, then one night saw him sleeping in the cat box and he was still there the next day, then the one after that."

"I just gave him a few biscuits to start with but heard he was going to visit other neighbours too and it felt like he was around too much and that something wasn’t quite right," said Ms Ryan. After posting about the cat on Facebook, she was contacted by Cats Protection who sent someone to scan the feline.

"I was so relieved when he had a chip and a loving family who had registered him as missing," she added. Wendy Harris from Cats Protection Coventry delivered the good news to the owners, who then embarked on a 600-mile round trip to collect their pet.

She added: "I couldn’t believe it when Wendy told me, I was shocked out of (my) mind that he was still alive, and how he travelled over 300 miles. I’m so glad we had him microchipped and updated his record. There’s no way he’d have come back to us otherwise."

The mystery of how Beans managed to travel such a distance remains unsolved. Madison Rogers, Cats Protection's Associate Director of Advocacy, Campaigns and External Affairs, hailed the reunion as a victory for microchipping: "It’s a real testament to the power of the microchip that Beans could be reunited with his owners just 24 hours after being scanned."

She added, "Without a chip it’s unlikely Beans would ever have found his way back to the family who love him so much."

For guidance on handling stray cats, check out www.cats.org.uk/stray-cats, which includes a downloadable guide.