Little Seth Taylor got the best Christmas gift of all when a caring hotel returned a treasured toy cat left behind in a family room.

But the three-year-old from Shipley was stunned to see how busy William Whiskers had been while he was at the Premier Inn in Daventry. The fluffy toy had been helping on reception, answering the phone and serving breakfasts and teas.

Now, though, he is back home – much to Seth’s delight.

Relieved mum Sharon Taylor praised the hotel for ‘going above and beyond’. “When we realised we had left William Whiskers behind we phoned the hotel in the hope we would get him back,” she said. “A few days later they called to say staff had found the toy and that they would send him back to us.

“But we were surprised when he arrived with a letter telling us what he had been doing during his ‘holiday’ and pictures of him hard at work!

“He had been helping out with all kinds of jobs at the hotel! It was so cute. They went above and beyond what they needed to do and Seth is thrilled. He has Whiskers back in time for Christmas.”

Seth got the ginger cat, who wears a green scarf, around the time Prince William married Kate Middleton and named his toy after the royal bridegroom. “So there are a lot of memories attached to him,” said Sharon, 31, a trainee teacher and former solicitor.

She and solicitor husband, Andy, 32, also have a daughter, Sara, who is four. Luckily, her favourite toy – a cow called Cowey – survived intact.

But William could be following in the footsteps of his Dad’s 30-year-old teddy bear, Teddy. Sharon said: “Teddy has been on all sorts of adventures, through letterboxes and French rivers. We wrote a book about Teddy’s exploits and now we can write one about William’s!”

Simon Harrison, manager at the Daventry Premier Inn, told the family: “William has been busy helping us.

“He helped on reception, checking in guests. Our receptionist said he is the best cat she ever trained and would miss him when he has gone.” A Premier Inn spokesman said: “Whiskers meant a lot to one little boy, so we are thrilled that the team at Daventry ensured he was back in the arms of his owner in time for Christmas – after taking an adventure or two, of course.”