A stowaway cat who was found on a North Sea oil platform has been flown back to the mainland and reunited with his owner.

The one-eyed cat was discovered on Thursday inside a shipping container that had been shipped from Peterhead.

It has also emerged he had previously been a regular visitor to HMP Grampian, where prison staff fed him and nicknamed him "one-eyed Joe".

The publicity has now led to the wanderer being identified as Dexter, who went missing five years ago.

The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has been able to contact his owner and  reuniute the pair. 

The Herald:

Dexter, AKA 'One-eyed Jack'

The crew of the offshore platform fed their unexpected visitor on chicken from the canteen and called in the Scottish SPCA.

On Friday morning he was flown by helicopter into Aberdeen and handed over to the charity.

Animal rescue officer Aimee Findlay, who collected the cat, said: "We were alerted to an incident of a cat being found in a shipping container offshore.

"We've no idea how the cat ended up there, but attended the heliport to collect him."

The charity had planned to check for a microchip and if necessary rehome him, but it seems that will no longer be necessary.