A mum who rescued an abandoned cat while living in China embarked on an epic journey to bring her beloved pet to East Lancashire.

Naiomi Beaumont Swindlehurst, who worked in Shanghai as a fabric development technologist for five years, travelled more than 11,000 miles by air, rail and sea and spent more than £1,000 to give moggie Ouka Douka a new life in Blackburn.

Naiomi and her daughter Malia Violet, now 12, moved to Shanghai in 2008. On top of learning Mandarin, immersing themselves in the culture and mastering chopsticks, they also adopted Ouka Douka, who had been abandoned by another expat when they left the country.

“A Chinese friend of ours was looking for someone to take her in and we had become so settled we felt we could have a pet,” she said.

“Back then I made a promise that she would, wherever we ended up, come with us.”

When work brought Naiomi and Malia Violet back to the UK at the beginning of this year, they were forced to leave Ouka Douka as well as two other rescue cats — Katja and Sibelius — behind because of quarantine rules.

Keen to avoid paying several thousands of pounds by using a mandatory airline approved pet carrier to fly into the UK, Naiomi devised a 33-hour journey to bring her home.

Naiomi’s journey saw her fly from Shanghai to Amsterdam, take a train to Rotterdam and then a ferry to Hull. Finally, a train via Leeds brought the intrepid duo back to Blackburn.

Now the family will also look to bring Katja and Sibelius home.

“I have always had pets and I believe when you have a pet it is for life, and not just for the time you are living in a particular place,” said Naiomi. “They become a part of the family and have their own personalities. We have become attached to each other.

“In China they will eat anything and we don’t want her to end up being abandoned or mistreated.

“She is my cat and my responsibility.”