A couple from Colby have told how they rescued and adopted an abandoned kitten from a wildfire ravaged part of Greece, a story which then went viral online.

Derek and Claire Allen, also known around the island as the musical duo Brown Sugar, were travelling in their motorhome through the island of Evia over summer, when they discovered the kitten on a remote beach which they reached via a series of winding single-track roads.

Derek said that the kitten appeared ’starving, panting and thirsty’ in temperatures reaching well over 40 degrees Celsius, and that he ’probably would have died in 24 hours’ otherwise.

In the days that followed more than 2,500 of the island’s residents were evacuated as the wildfires spread.

After more months of travelling through Europe and arranging his EU pet passport ’Vangelis’ the kitten has now returned to the island.

Derek explained how the name had come to him based on having recently experienced the hospitality of an elderly Greek man named Vangelis, in a small village that they stayed near called Laimos.

The story has since gone viral on social media, having even been picked up by La Stampa, one of Italy’s biggest newspapers.

Derek said that he was amazed at what a good traveller Vangelis turned out to be, not being bothered by long journeys on the road at all.

’I suppose that’s all he’s known for most of his life, the inside of the [motor] home,’ said Derek.

While in Greece they would often let Vangelis out of the camper to roam around, and he would always return, albeit sometimes a bit late.

However, they stopped doing this once they left Greece, and would instead take him for walks on a lead.

Derek told us how he thinks the reasons that the story has proved so popular is because it was ’a piece of good news after the 18 months of horrible news the world has had’ during the pandemic.

He added that it was fitting how they later discovered that ’Vangelis’ translated to ’the messenger or angel of good news’.

Their Facebook travel blog, ’Rocking Life On The Road’ went from 2,000 to 5,000 followers, and some posts about Vangelis reached over 80,000 people.

And they have received messages from around the world from people asking about him.

On one chance occasion while parked up, they encountered a French couple in Greece who recognised Vangelis from having seen him on a French animal lover’s website.

Derek concluded: I’ve calculated that he has travelled, in total, over 3,500 miles with us, but his "fame" has certainly travelled much further!’

Since returning home Vangelis has not yet left the house in Colby so as to not get lost (aside from for our photoshoot), but is said to be adjusting well.