Merlin with its Guinness Book of Records certificate for having the loudest purr.

Meet Merlin – the purr-fect pet as long as you do not mind the noise.

A team from the Guinness Book of Records visited him at home with owner Tracy Westwood and measured his purring at 67.8 decibels, which is almost as loud as a shower or a dishwasher.

Westwood, from Torquay on the English Riviera, said: “Occasionally when he’s really loud I have to repeat myself. When you’re watching films you have to turn the telly up or put him out of the room, if he’s eating he’ll purr loudly. I can hear him when I’m drying my hair.

“If he’s cleaning he gets louder and sometimes if the telephone rings I do get people asking me ‘what’s that noise in the background?’ I tell them it’s the cat but I don’t know if they believe me.”

Merlin, who made an appearance on the TV show Cats Make You Laugh Out Loud 2, was picked up by Westwood from a rescue centre when he was just a kitten.

A Guinness World Records spokesman said: “It was amazing to see just how loud his purr was in person and, despite a couple of readings of Merlin’s purr just under the current record, a bowl of tuna cat food proved to make all the difference and secure the record.”