And her stunt paid off when a family fell in love with the cat and offered him a loving home after Vicki Green was locked in his pen for 48 hours to draw attention to his plight last weekend.

Vicki, who works at Nuthall Cats Protection in Nuthall, wanted to re-home Antonio, who had been at the shelter there for four months, and also raise awareness of how the cats must feel cooped up.

The 23-year-old, who ate and slept in the pen and only left to go to the toilet said: "It was emotional and very cold but I got through it. My main aim was to get Antonio a home so it was a success.

"A young family came up on Saturday and just fell in love with him. They were overwhelmed with how cute he was. There was a connection there and that was it.

"He had been there longer than any of the other cats and no-one had really shown any interest in him. He was very subdued because he had been here that long. He had lost the will to live."

Antonio suffered with an ear infection which caused his head to tilt to one side and was found wandering the streets of Ilkeston last November.
Vicki, who raised £323 for the charity during the two days, said she wanted people to understand how the cats must feel locked up.

"My manager did it to re-home a cat a few years ago, but I also wanted to do it to let people know how cats must feel," she said.

"I wanted to say to the public it's not a good place for them to be.

"Coming in as a stray it's not so bad because they are warm and get regularly fed.

"But it's not nice for them when they come to us from a home where they are used to one-on-one care and attention."

Antonio will move in to his new home in the next couple of weeks.