A CROSS Roads charity dealing with huge numbers of abandoned and unwanted cats has managed to find homes for a record number of these pets.

Yorkshire Cat Rescue has reported an 18 per cent rise in the number of cats re-homed in October and a 68 per cent increase in November compared with those same two months last year.

The charity found new homes for 100 cats in October and a record 118 in November. It is the first time Yorkshire Cat Rescue has broken the 100-cat barrier in a single month, let alone twice in a row.

In comparison, the charity hit a low point in April when only 40 cats found new homes.

Sara Atkinson, founder of Yorkshire Cat Rescue said the success was both uplifting and a reflection of the large number of cats that are being left to fend for themselves.

β€œIt is always nice to see a lot of cats and kittens leave the centre and go to new, loving families, especially at this time of year where they should be enjoying the warmth of a home instead of the temporary walls of our pens," she added.

"The flipside, of course, is that we are taking in more cats than ever before, and kittens continue to be born all year round – not just in the summer months.

"More cats available often means better chances of people finding the one that is just right for them."