Classic Collection’s Sophie Thackeray was attending the Central England Co-operative Travel Manager’s conference in Cyprus two weeks ago, when she became moved by the plight of the many stray cats on the island.

“I’d already taken some bits from breakfast to feed them all, because most of the hotels had closed for the season,” she explained, “and so they were all congregating at the few hotels that remained open.

“I went and bought 12 packets of cat food and a bowl, and began feeding them on my balcony, but there was one small cat that was getting bullied by the others, and wasn’t getting any food. I went down to dinner, and when I returned, he was there waiting for me, and that was it.”

Thackeray named the cat Yiannis, and the next day called the Paphos cat sanctuary. Within 10 minutes she had arranged for him to be picked up, micro-chipped and given a rabies shot. By the end of the day, he was booked on a British Airways flight to the UK for January 22 - all for €1,500.

“Some people spend just as much buying a pedigree, but this was saving a little life,” Thackeray said.

She admits she is a fan of the felines, with two other cats at home. However, Thackeray also revealed this is not the first time she has returned home from foreign climes with someone else in tow.

“I also rescued a dog - Shaggy - many years ago when I was a rep in Cos, but he died two years ago.

“Most people come back with a fridge magnet,” she added. “But I wish others could realise how easy it can be to rescue an animal from another European country.”