BARTLETT the plucky hamster, who escaped death last week, has been returned home to his owner.

As the Star reported last week, daredevil Bartlett, a Russian dwarf hamster, was rescued from a drain in Cullompton by Sean Cashin and his partner Kate Hillier with the help of their dog.

They named the hamster Bartlett and appealed to trace his original owner.

Amy Booth contacted the Star on Monday after seeing her lost hamster, called Lupi, on the front page.

Amy, who lives just yards from where he was found in Bell View Terrace, said: "We lost her about four weeks ago.

"She has a cage with lots of tubes and we came downstairs one morning to find one of the tubes had come detached and Lupi gone.

"We searched all over the house and couldn't find her so thought she must have somehow got outside.

"We have two cats and a dog, and there are several other cats in the street, so I just presumed she was dead.

"I was shocked when my aunt called to say someone had found a hamster just like her down a drain.

"When I saw the paper I knew it was Lupi."

So Amy then contacted Kate and Adrian and arranged to get her hamster back.

Amy added: "She is now safely back home but we will be looking to get a new cage to make sure she doesn't escape again."