The story of an unlikely friendship between a homeless cat and a Big Issue seller has become the subject of a major book deal.

James Bowen and tomcat Bob are familiar figures outside Angel Tube station – and now they have signed a publishing contract.

James, a musician who had fallen on hard times will tell how he found the stray ginger cat curled up wounded in a hallway and nursed him back to health in A Street Car Named Bob, which hits the shelves in March.

Rowena Webb, director of non-fiction publishing at Hodder & Stoughton, said: “James and Bob are an inseparable pair and a familiar sight at the Angel. But the background to their incredible friendship is very moving and inspirational – of how an injured cat transformed the life of a man on the streets – and their story will touch many readers.”