Cats in England must be microchipped by law from June 10, warns Cedar Vets.

By this date, owners must chip cats before they reach 20 weeks old, with their contact details stored in a pet database.

Those who ignore the law risk a £500 fine after a 21-day grace period. A PDSA report found just 54 per cent of cat owners know the new law. Approximately, 2.4 million cats in England remain unchipped.

Vet James Poff, of Cedar Vets, said: "Every week we see cats that are lost or have been involved in accidents, and when they have a microchip, it makes it much easier to reunite them with their owners.

"Without a microchip, all too often cats end up in rehoming centres, which are often flooded with lost cats. Many of these were once beloved pets, but if they haven’t got a microchip, it can be difficult to find their owners, who are left wondering what happened to them.

"Each chip has a unique serial number and whenever a lost pet is brought into us, we can scan it and cross-reference it against a pet database to obtain the owner’s details. However, this also means it’s vital that owners remember to update their details if they move house or change their phone number."