31171-91THERE was lots of purring and preening going on at Swindon's Oasis Leisure Centre when a national championship came to town.

The massive moggy extravaganza saw more than 500 cats and their proud owners descend on the venue for the annual beauty contest on Saturday.

The pampered pussies came from all over the country for the 12th Wiltshire and District Cat Show, and nearly 40 different breeds were represented, including exotic long haired Persians and leopard spotted Bengals.

Sue Covey, from Tanners Close, Wootton Bassett, was celebrating her cat's latest rosette. Sue, 39, whose three-year-old Abyssinian Janalise Taz was awarded a Grand Premier prize, said: "I love cats. We've got six at home and they are spoilt.

"I give them fresh chicken each night before bed and have built a run for them in the garden. They are house cats but they enjoy being outside.

"They've even got their own settee in there. I must spend about £30 a week on them."

Her daughter Tash, 14, said: "I adore cats and hope to start breeding them when I'm older. Taz is my life. He's just like a baby."

Yve Hamilton-Bruce, 58, travelled from Northampton to show her massive Norwegian Forest cat, Wenceslas, who weighs in at 20lbs.

She said: "This show in Swindon has got a very good reputation.

"Wenceslas likes prawns and has a surprising taste for raspberry yogurt."

Another feline visitor to Swindon was Porsche, a semi-long hair Ragdoll, who was accompanied by his owner Adrian Prowting, from Southampton. Adrian, 37, said: "We came here last year and really enjoyed it.

"Ragdolls are supposed to be really placid, like their name suggests, but Porsche is more temperamental."

John Robinson, of Wiltshire and District Cat Club, said the show had become one of the most popular in the UK.

He said there was so much interest in the annual event that he'd had to turn entries away.

"People come from all over to take part," he said. "We've had cats from Jersey and Ireland and Scotland as well as local ones from around Swindon.

"Swindon has got great road and rail links so nowhere is really more than an hour or so away."

John, who has eight of his own cats at his home in Freshbrook, added: "I like Siamese because you can treat them like dogs.

"We used to have one that we took for walks on a lead!"

Alex Emery