Lancaster couple celebrate anniversary by taking 260-mile round trip to meet famous Stourbridge Junction Railway Station cat

George the cat, who lives at Stourbridge Junction Railway Station, has become an unlikely online superstar attracting visitors from across the globe and even his own range of merchandise.

The 10-year-old ginger tom boasts hundreds of thousands of followers on social media and now has his own Google Maps marker at Stourbridge station.

He has been guarding the platforms in the role of ‘rat catcher’ since his owner emigrated to Spain in 2017.

Incredibly, fans have travelled thousands of miles just to get a glimpse of him, with some coming from as far away as the United States, Canada and Asia.

Yesterday (August 22) devoted George supporters could be found at the station with some having driven hundreds of miles to see him.

Among the dedicated fans were Polly and Tony Armstrong, from Lancaster, who decided to celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary by travelling the 260-mile round trip from Lancaster.

"We're both cat crazy,” said Polly, 75, a former British Aerospace translator. “We see George on Facebook every single day.

"We've got three packs of Dreamies and we're prowling up and down the platform looking for him.

"We've been following him for a year or so. It's our wedding anniversary today and we thought we'd come here and find George.

"We once went to a global gathering of crazy cat people in Rome. We went to this cat sanctuary where there were 200 cats. I'm cat crazy."

Station supervisor Ian Tomlinson has adopted George who spends his days patrolling the station or curled up in the ticket office.

The feline currently has 66,000 followers on X and 49,000 followers on Facebook where his posts help spread positivity with uplifting messages.

His booming popularity has earned him a marker on Google Maps and his own merchandise line, consisting of George themed hats, cups, coasters and calendars.

A percentage of the profits from his merchandise is given to local charities.

George aided Stourbridge Junction to be named winners of the ‘World Cup of Stations’ award in 2020 and helped save local ticket offices from closure last year.

Station manager Simone Carter said at the time: "George first found his way into the station back in December 2017 and he's been the star of the show ever since.

"As well as helping us out in the booking office most days, George has been a fantastic addition to our team who work tirelessly to provide exceptional customer service to our passengers.

"I'm so proud of the team, and our wonderful ambassador George, for their hard work and determination."

George is the latest in a long tradition of station cats, a tradition dating back to the 19th century where trained cats would hunt down vermin on platforms.

He has his own mouse catcher badge and is said to often leave members of staff dead rodents as 'gifts' for their hard work.