A ginger tomcat from Didcot can expect an extra special gift this Christmas - after he was run over by Santa's sleigh.

Like most youngsters, eight-month-old Barney the cat was eager to meet Father Christmas and make sure his wishlist had arrived safely in Santa's hands.

But his yuletide excitement ended up costing him one of his nine lives.

Barney, who lives with his owners in Fleet Meadow, joined thousands of others at the town's Christmas Street Fair to enjoy the festive fun.

Once he was there he took up a prime position to watch the floats and performers make their way up Broadway.

But the festive feline adventure was cut short when Barney was hit by Santa's sleigh.

Luckily for Barney an anonymous Good Samaritan full of the spirit of Christmas scooped him up and took him to Abivale Vets in Abingdon.

Because he had been microchipped vets were able to quickly trace his owner - but the identity of the woman who rescued him still remains a mystery.

Barney's owner Naomi Hart said she wanted to thank the women who saved her treasured pet.

She said: "The lady must have seen it happen, scooped him up and taken him to the vet."

"He has a paralysed tail and a bit of a limp but apart from that he is OK.

"If someone hadn't taken him to the vets then I don't know what would have happened."

She added: "We just wanted to say thank you to the person who picked him up.

"We wanted to thank them personally but we don't know who it was."

Mrs Hart said it was not the first time her adventurous cat had got into a spot of bother.

"He is that sort of cat.

When he was five months old he ended up in Blackbird Leys. He had walked to the train station shop and someone who worked there took him home to look after him," she said.

"He has gone through a few of his nine lives. This scrape must have taken at least a couple."

Last night, the Oxford Mail tracked Santa down at his workshop.

He said he had not seen Barney in the road but was very pleased to hear he was all right.

"He obviously wanted to join in the festivities, perhaps he could come and help the reindeers sometime," he said.

"It is good to know someone in Didcot picked him up and took him to a vet."