This is the hilarious moment when curiosity nearly did kill the cat after a tony kitten got its head stuck in a hand basin.

Staff at a bathroom warehouse in Istanbul, Turkey, had heard mewing for a while before discovering the trapped cat.

Video footage of the rescue shows worker Tuncay Altun carrying the sink and calling for a colleague with a chisel and hammer.

The clip, recorded on 11th November, shows Tuncay holding the sink on the ground while his colleague carefully hammers away at the neck of the plughole.

Tuncay told local media that after they had freed the kitten, they went back to the warehouse to find the mother and the other kittens, and returned the curious kitten to its family.

By the time the kitten was returned to its mother, Tuncay said it was very weak but with its mother’s milk and plenty of rest, it recovered and is now doing well.

He said: “I heard the sound of the kitten at first all I didn’t take much notice, but then when it began to increase in frequency and get louder, decided to check it out.

“We found the other kittens and then we saw this one youngster with its head stuck in the hole.”

He added: “If we had not acted when we did, then it would have died within a few hours.”