Lucky escape: Kittens found in car seconds before it headed to crusher

These four kittens each used up one of their nine lives when they were discovered in the boot of a car- seconds before it was to be crushed at a scrap yard.

The cats were only saved as mechanics working at the scrap yard in Birmingham heard meowing as the car was lowered into the giant crushing machine. The cats were found cowering next to the spare tyre after being born just days before.

Shocked workers at Taroni's of Birmingham salvage firm, in the Aston area of the city, found the cute kittens as they prepared to crush a 1989 Porsche 944.

“We bought the car from a private owner who wanted the money for scrap,” said the site’s manager Carl Dowling.”The car had been in our yard for about two weeks until we drained the fluid down and prepared it for the crusher.

“Just seconds before it was to go into the crusher we heard a high-pitched squealing coming from the boot. A few of the lads looked at each other and we stopped the machines and listened again. We managed to force the boot open and there were these four kittens huddled by the spare wheel.”

Workers at the site think that a stray cat living near the scrapyard climbed inside the car and gave birth, before later abandoning her litter.

Stan Baldwin, who also works Taroni’s said: “We get a lot of stray cats around here and I think one of them must have got into the car through a broken window and then into the boot through another hole and gave birth to them.

“The poor kittens were in such a sorry state, they were tiny and you could tell their eyes were straining from the bright light after being stuck in the dark,” he added. “There were very thin, so we gave them milk and they seem to be doing well”.

The kittens are being kept in the manager's office while a new home is being found for them.