Statue unveiled to honour Andover station cat
Jess 'adopted' the station as his home and lived there for more than a decade until he passed away at the end of last year
Last updated 28th Aug 2024
A statue of a much loved cat which was adopted by staff at Andover railway station has been unveiled.
Jess was a popular and regular sight at the station for 13 years until he passed away at the end of last year.
Tracey Jones who works at the station and looked after Jess said he was loved by passengers:
"You know they'd be excited to see him or if he was out wandering about they got to fuss him you know they loved it and quite often if people were sat on the benches waiting for a train in the evening he'd jump up on their laps and keep warm and give them a fuss he was just loved by everybody"
Jess even had his own Facebook page with three thousand followers and when he died messages were received from around the world.
When he died more than five thousand pounds was raised by local people to have a permanent memorial to him.
Andover sculptor Amy Goodman was commissioned to create the life-size statue of Jess.
Passengers and staff gathered in the station's booking hall to watch the unveiling.
His statue - which has his ashes inside - has been placed on the counter of the booking hall so passengers can once again see their favourite feline friend.