Staff at Haworth Tourist Information Centre have been singing the praises of its third largest tourist attraction.

While the Bront Parsonage Museum attracts people in droves, and countless numbers enjoy the Worth Valley Railway, it is Thomas the cat who is happy to entertain visitors at the information centre.

Thomas is a 13-year-old, big, black-and-white cat who likes nothing more than to stroll around Haworth visiting his regular haunts. He has a good home with Molly and Gary Hustler and their two children in West Lane, but can't resist going to see his friends in Haworth.

Molly, a nurse at Airedale Hospital, said: "We have another cat, Jemima, but she's nothing like Thomas. She stays in, whereas he is always going out to see people.

"He's a real character, he has his own mind and he'll go wherever he's fed."

Molly said her two children, Tom, aged ten, and eight-year-old Jack, were very fond of both cats and the family was amused by Thomas's antics.

Thomas regularly calls in at the Tourist Information Centre where he curls up on a chair or under a table and sleeps.

Claire Dourandish, who works at the centre, said: "He's been coming here ever since I can remember, for about ten years or so. He has a perfectly good home but he's a real socialite and the visitors all love him."

He also visits the Parsonage museum for biscuits and features on one of the postcards on sale.

Claire said that when tourists return to the area they often asked after him and were delighted to see him if he was around.

"We often joke that he should be on the payroll. He seems almost human," she added.