An eight-month old kitten narrowly escaped death after being shot with an air rifle near her home in East Ewell.

Jane Gillies of Boleyn Avenue let tiny Twinkle out as normal earlier this month but when she did not return she feared the worst.

Three days later Mrs Gillies 11-year-old son spotted Twinkle cowering in a neighbour’s garden.

She said: “I thought we had seen the last of her.

“She basically went to ground and she was too frightened to come home.

“We think that’s when it happened.”

After her return home Mrs Gillies was stroking Twinkle when she felt a lump at the base of her tail which her vet quickly identified as an air gun pellet.

“The vet was nearly in tears, from anger or sadness I’m not sure.

“At that age they don’t stray more than three or four houses so it’s horrifying to think it’s probably one of the neighbours and next time it could be a child.”

Twinkle, who was rescued by the family from the Katz Castle animal shelter in Cobham after being abandoned, underwent surgery to remove the pellet which Mrs Gillies has kept as a reminder of Twinkle’s ordeal. The attack comes just weeks after a 2-year old cat was shot with an air gun rifle in Lower Kingswood.

Twinkle will make a full recovery but Mrs Gillies is urging people to report such incidents to the police.

She added: “If police can see a pattern in an area then they can do something about it.

“I’d like to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

Anyone with information should call Surrey Police on 0845 125 2222 quoting reference P11178169.