Kitten rescued from car engine

The kitten looking a bit tired after the ordeal. Photo / Supplied

For firefighters, the cliche callout is "cat stuck up tree" -- but when the call comes in that there's a kitten stuck in a car engine, they respond with all they've got.

"I've been in the job 31 years and it was probably one the most interesting jobs I've been on," said Ellerslie station officer Ian Richards after responding to a call for help after a cat was found stuck in a car's engine compartment.

Mr Richards said the kitten was discovered about 9.45am by a woman who had driven about 1km to her local Briscoes store on Mt Wellington Highway and "luckily" heard meowing coming from under the bonnet.

When she opened up the bonnet, she could see a small ginger kitten was trapped so called the fire service which sent two trucks.

"At first we thought it was dead, but then we poked it and it moved, thankfully," Mr Richards told the Herald.

"It was an interesting one because we had to take apart the motor area bit-by-bit and then we got it [the kitten] out. Then we put it back together again.

"The kitten was only about as big as your hand."

When the firefighters extracted the kitten from the engine area, after about an hour's work, the crowd who had gathered applauded and "a box appeared from somewhere" and the woman left to take the kitten back home. She suspected it was her neighbour's pet.

"It was a good exercise for the guys and thankfully it had a happy ending."