A couple from the Isle of Man will be making a 400-mile round trip this weekend to pick up their wandering cat who hitched a lift in the back of a Tavistock man’s van.

Liz and Paul Skillicorn will tomorrow (Friday) board the ferry to the mainland to travel to the Tavistock area, where adventurous Dusty the cat is staying at a cattery at Kit Hill, near Gunnislake.

The restless cat was originally discovered in the back of the van by Tavistock man Tommy Bird.

Tommy had been on the Isle of Man for work during the famous TT Races and only discovered his unexpected passenger on arriving back in Tavistock.

He then contacted Dusty’s owners via her Facebook page ‘Dusty’s Adventures’ which has 20,000 followers keeping abreast of the three-year-old feline’s many adventures.

Having to go off to the Glastonbury Festival for work, he transferred Dusty to the care of Westmoor Vets in Tavistock who then billeted her at the cattery.

An appeal was then launched on the Isle of Man, where Dusty is something of a celebrity, to raise money to bring her home.

A total of £1,000 has been raised, which will pay for the Skillicorns to travel to Devon this weekend and bring their feline home.

Dusty, who lives with the Skillicorn family near Noble’s Hospital in Strang, is well-known for her adventures on the island off the northwest coast of England.

“Dusty goes awol quite a lot on the island,” said owner Liz. “We live on the estate beside the hospital and she basically lives in the hospital. She wanders the corridors, she sits in the cafeteria and she goes into A&E while people are waiting to be seen and sits on their laps. She also goes in the ambulances. She is well-known for wandering.”

Dusty’s trip to Devon came somewhat unexpectedly, though, as a result of an influx of visitors which make the trip to the island for the island’s annual motorcycle racing event in the first week of June.

Liz explained: “A man called Tommy Bird had come to the TT Races – a lot of people come up every year. He was taking the tents down and had been on the island for a while. He was aware of Dusty wandering around and she had been sleeping on his dashboard.”

When the job ended Tommy made the long journey back to Tavistock, boarding the ferry across the Irish Sea.

When he got back to Devon, he realised he’d had an unexpected stowaway in the back of his van.

He recognised the cat as the one that had been paying him visits on the Isle of Man and it didn’t take him long to find Dusty’s Facebook page.

“Then we got a message from him to say that she had snuck into the van without him realising and had gone all the way home with him,” said Liz.

“He said ‘I think I’ve got your cat.’ And I said ‘I’ll come and get her’, and he said ‘I live in Tavistock’ I said ‘where’s that?’ He said Devon!”

Liz added: “We are now going over on the boat to collect her. The Isle of Man Steam Packet company are donating the crossing [over the Irish Sea] for myself and my husband in the car. A lovely lady called Nicola has raised over £1,000 to get Dusty home and whatever is left over will be donated to an animal charity.”

“Everyone loves her on the island and wants her back. I have had so many messages from people. We’ve packed her lead and harness and we might take her for a walk on the beach while we are down there!”