An animal lover was mistaken for a peeping tom after she inadvertently set up cameras in a notorious dogging spot while looking for a missing cat.
Chantelle Farrow, 29, ended up having £160 worth of filming equipment stolen and had to fend off advances from night-time prowlers as she put in long hours to save male moggy Avril.
A volunteer with charity Kitty Rescue Bury, Chantelle spent three months attempting to catch the neglected cat on a quiet rural road near Bolton, Greater Manchester.
Her attempts to track him down were far more eventful than she expected, however, as she revealed how her car was “attacked” one evening in a wood by irate locals trying to clamp down on indecent acts in the area.
Thankfully, Avril was eventually found and is now in need of a loving new home.
Sharing some of her stranger experiences in her role, Chantelle said: “It was an unusual experience but we catch a lot of cats in weird places, including a swinger’s place, that was home to a cat colony, as well as a brothel in Manchester.
“Obviously, it’s not ideal to set up cameras on a lane where these kinds of activities are taking place. Those who are dogging don’t want them there.
“It was concerning to put yourself in danger for this cat but then you remember that nobody else is going to help this cat.
“At the end of the day we saved a life and if we didn’t try he would probably be dead – it was worth it.”
Chantelle, from Bury, revealed she started looking for neglected Avril along a country road near Cadshaw Village in Lancashire around February last year.
But her presence in the area consistently drew the attention of amorous passers-by - though she said they were "usually nice and left us alone".
Chantelle, who set up filming devices to track and find the cat, said she had a total of three cameras stolen during the stake-out, valued between £80 and £40.
And she even said she was attacked one night by irate protesters who disapproved of the road being used as a dogging hotspot.
She shared: “On the night we decided to rescue him a car kept driving up and down and we felt uneasy.
“We drove down into the wood to see where they were going and they jumped out at us with a big stick to try and hit the car.
“We caught the two guys on camera and called the police to report this.
“We saw the same people days later and we asked them what their problem was. They said they were anti-dogging people and said we shouldn’t be dogging in this area.
“We had to explain why we were actually there.”
Chantelle finally managed to collar Avril and determined he was a male in April last year - and said he's a "really nice and friendly boy" who now needs a home.
She said: “We want to rehome him urgently. We don’t want him to have to come back into the rescue and distress him even further.
“He’s a really nice and friendly boy. He loves attention and will cuddle you. He also loves his freedom and going outside when he wants to."
