I have got a few hundred pounds at stake and I can not be held up with a cat Fred Dibnah

It was decided George should be left on the chimney in the hope a lonely night at such a height without food may encourage him to come down.

But Mr Dibnah is not impressed with the cat's antics because there is work to be done.

Mr Dibnah said: "If we leave it up there all night it might get so fed up and hungry that it might come down on its own.

"Failing that it is holding my job up. I have got a few hundred pounds at stake and I can not be held up with a cat."

He pledged to return to try to rescue George tomorrow if he still had not come down - this time perhaps armed with a sack.

Mr Dibnah won public acclaim after a local BBC Television broadcast included a news item showing him gilding and installing the topmost finial of Bolton Town Hall.

His new-found celebrity status was confirmed in 1979 when he was invited to take part in the making of an hour long television film series about people with unusual occupations.

The film Fred Dibnah - Steeplejack won two awards.

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