London: Some 25 firemen and five fire engines were pressed into service to rescue a cat in Britain, a media report said Wednesday.
The cat was perched on a two-storey house in Leiston, Suffolk, when the fire crews were dispatched to rescue it Tuesday.
Firefighters` union leaders branded the response `crazy and overkill`, the Daily Mail reported on its website.
But the Suffolk Fire Service crews were turned back within minutes when a local firefighter from Leiston climbed a ladder and rescued the cat - which ran off unscathed.
A spokesman for campaign group The Taxpayers` Alliance said: "It`s ridiculous that five fire crews were sent out to rescue one cat."
"It`s almost laughable but wasting resources is bad news for taxpayers and others who might have needed to be rescued, so it`s not funny."
A Suffolk County Council spokeswoman said it had been called by the RSPCA, an animal welfare organisation, to help and the reaction was in line with national regulations.
IANS
