Toby the cat, from Nottingham city, has spread happiness around his hometown for many years.

A former stray cat named Toby has been spreading ‘joy’ and happiness around his Nottinghamshire hometown for many years. Now, his owners Lindsay, 36, and Lee, 45, hope to expand this positivity to others on social media and hope for their pet to became viral.

In 2012, Lindsay adopted Toby when she moved into her home and the previous tenants had left Toby behind. Since then, the cat has grown popular amongst residents in the local town where he used to visit the local hairdressers before it closed down.

Customers used to love seeing him and he brought many people there much joy. Lindsay and Lee said: "Everyone who meets him seems to love him."

Since the closure of the hairdressers, Toby has been brought on family holidays with his owners as he is said to love being around people. The couple added: “When we take Toby out and about he gains lots of interest and attention as seeing a cat out in a pram, rucksack or harness is unusual.”

On one of the cat’s holidays, he completed a Wainwrights hike in the Lake District called Rannerdale Knotts and it’s believed he is the only cat ever to have completed it. Jade Waltham, a neighbour of the owners, has known them for six years and has looked after Toby multiple times.

She said: “It is so evident to me and I’m sure to everyone else that both Lindsay and Lee love Toby so much. The fact that they try to take him everywhere with them shows they don’t want to be without him.”

Toby’s social media accounts provide light-hearted entertainment and updates of his life for all cat lovers who follow his pages.With 106 followers on Instagram and 341 on Twitter, his owners would love to see his accounts grow but say they are happy to see how it comes. Toby has accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok, all with the username @TobycatUK