A British community college says it has a recorded a house cat whose lawnmower-like purr hit 73 decibels,16 times louder than the average feline. Northampton College in central England said on Wednesday that it had dispatched a music team with specialist sound equipment to record 12-year-old Smokey. The recording has been submitted to the Guinness World Records. The gray-and-white tabby has already made several appearances in the local press,where journalists compared the purr to the sound of a Boeing 747 from a mile away. Guinness World Records says it is "anxiously waiting" for the recording to see if it meets its standards.