FIREFIGHTERS were called to a rooftop siege with a difference – as an adventurous cat used up one of its nine lives.

Female tortoiseshell Marlow was rescued after seven hours stuck on top of a terraced house in Barnoldswick.

Marlow’s owners – chef William Jacques and his heavily pregnant wife, Michaela – praised crews who used a ladder to tempt down the marooned moggie.

Mr Jacques, 31, said he first noticed Marlow on the roof of a neighbour’s house in Valley Road at 8am last Tuesday.

He said: “We came downstairs in the morning and noticed the cat wasn’t in the house, then we heard it whining on the roof.

“It’s not normal for her to get up there.

“When she wouldn’t come down I rang the RSPCA and they said to leave her and she will come down after a while. She still wasn’t down at 3pm when I came home from work so they sent an inspector out straight away, who had the fire service here within 10 minutes.

“I was a bit anxious but so relieved when they got her down. She was all wet and crying but she’s ok now, just a bit shocked I think.”

RSPCA inspector Natalie Taylor said it appeared the cat had climbed up the back of the property, slid down from the apex of the roof, and refused to move from the guttering as she was so scared.

She said: “It had been raining so the tiles were slippy and she was at risk of sliding off the roof if she attempted to climb back up.

“She was two storeys high and was soaking wet and frightened.

“I called the fire service who attended as the cat had been up there for a number of hours.

“The fire service were brilliant, led by watch manager Mick Strickland.

“They very professionally and successfully rescued the cat within a very short time and returned her to her owners who were very grateful.”

William and Michaela’s son, four-year-old Finley, was on hand to give Marlow a cuddle once she was back on the ground, and three days later he had another reason to celebrate when his mum gave birth to his sister, Freya.