CATS get stuck in all sorts of places but one took it all in his stride when firefighters used a snake to rescue him.

Gosport's blue watch were called to a house in Priory Road, Elson, after a doting owner realised one of his cats had disappeared up the chimney.

First they tried low-tech - attaching a mirror to a broom handle to try to spot Ginger.

Next came the thermal imaging camera, but no trace of the missing animal could be found.

After two hours pondering the problem they decided to break out their latest bit of technology - the snake-eye camera.

They fed the fibre-optic cable fitted with a camera down the chimney but the sight that greeted fire fighters perched on the roof with a monitor was a soundly sleeping Ginger.

Leading firefighter Dave Harris said: "The camera woke him up and he sat up and looked at it as if to say what's going on here?"

Once they were sure he was all right Ginger was left to make his own way down, emerging covered in soot and in need of a good bath.

Mr Harris said: "We get called to rescue cats from wall cavities, cellars and so on but it was the first one up a chimney - and he was just asleep not even stuck."

Yesterday Ginger woke to find a camera in his face and his owner had taken the wise precaution of covering up the fireplace.