Mother's fear over streetlights after beloved pet hit by car

Tonia and her husband Matt had just moved to Durrington when their cat Matilda (right) was hit by a car

A heartbroken mother whose cat is fighting for its life after being hit by a car says it could have been avoided if streelights had been on.

Tonia Voice and her family had only lived in Copse View in Durrington for a few days when her Bengal cat Matilda was seriously injured on Tuesday night.

Tonia, 38, said: “She must have got out of a window.

“About 7.45pm neighbours said there’s a cat in the road that is dead and we think it might belong to you.

“I wasn’t even at home I was getting my nails done.

“My father in law realised she was still breathing and rushed her to Grove Lodge Vets.

Tonia said: “She has a severely fractured jaw, top and bottom.”

Vets were able to stabilise Matilda but said Tonia needed to take it to a specialist in Surrey for surgery.

Matilda is awaiting an operation and has between a 70 and 80 per cent chance of pulling through, Tonia said.

The specialist treatment is set to cost between five and six thousand pounds, but fortunately Tonia has insurance.

“My cat isn’t just a cat, it’s my baby so I did not care what I had to pay.”

She praised her neighbours for telling her what happened so quickly and said without them Matilda would likely not have survived.

But admin assistant Tonia thinks the whole situation could have been easily avoided.

She said: “There’s no streets light there. They are all in but not turned on.

“I do believe it could have stopped the accident from happening.

“It is literally pitch black, they need to be switched on.”

The area is a relatively new development, with parts managed by Taylor Wimpey, Bovis Homes Group and Persimmon Homes.

A joint statement from the three developers said: “The connection of street lamps on this phase of the development is currently in progress and the work to connect the column on the corner of Copse View should be completed within the next week.”

Tonia added: “The worst thing is somebody has hit her and she has been left in the middle of the road.”

She is calling for people to be mindful of the speed limit on her road, which is five miles per hour.

“People need to be taking notice of signs that are there. They are there for a reason.

“If you are going fast and you need to stop quickly it is going to be quite difficult.”