ONE Taunton family got more than they bargained for when they bought their dream family home... a new pet cat.

Webbers Estate Agents were selling the home of Stephen and Jackie Matthews who had decided to move away.

But the pair had concerns that their beloved pet cat Charlie wouldn’t be able to settle in a new home, or if he could even find one at 15-years-old.

The staff at Webbers decided to make it their mission to champion Charlie’s cause, so they were delighted when the Edwards family wanted to buy the house in Mountfields Avenue and to keep Charlie.

So a few months later Mr and Mrs Matthews are on their new adventures safe in the knowledge that Charlie’s life has continued as before.

Mr Matthews said: “When we decided to move house, we knew leaving our home of 23 years would be difficult but it turned out that leaving Charlie was much harder.

“So we are so grateful to the staff at Webbers for their help and especially grateful to the new owners for accepting him as part of their family.

“We can never thank them enough.”

Charlie has been busy making friends with Mr and Mrs Edwards’s daughter, eightyear-old Evie, and getting to know their dog Sweep.

Mr Edwards said: “After a bit of a Mexican stand-off in the first few days, Charlie and Sweep are now getting on fine.

“Mind you, there is no doubt that Charlie is boss.

“In fact Sweep is a bit scared of the cat. Charlie spends a lot of his time keeping Evie company in her bedroom and they’ve already become firm friends. We were pleased to take Charlie on and have a new member of the family to share Christmas with.”

Ed Thorne, manager of Webbers in Taunton, said: “We are delighted to have been involved with finding a solution for Charlie for the Matthews.

“Charlie was a regular topic of conversation in the office and we had a couple of offers of a new home in mind but everyone is delighted that he has been able to stay with the Edwards in his old home.”