SIMBA the ginger cat lived up to the dangerous lifestyle of his namesake from Disney's The Lion King when he found himself balanced precariously high up in a tree.

Luckily for the young puss firefighters from Devizes were on hand to get him out of danger after he spent more than 24 hours on the high branches of a tree near the canal tow path at Stanton St Bernard, near Devizes.

But for the four firefighters it first meant a long walk carrying a heavy ladder across a field before their rescue could begin.

Firefighter Richard Lake said: "We think the cat had come from a canal boat. It had been up there quite a long time and the owners were getting very worried.

"At first it started to go higher up the tree but it wasn't too distressed and we could just carry it down. The owners were delighted.

It was an interesting first day in his new job as temporary crew manager Mike Cleaver as he had the task of going up the ladder to reach Simba.