Rosie the lurcher disappeared from Chris and Rosie Keeble's garden in Creeting St Mary, Suffolk, in 1997.

In a bid to track her down Mr and Mrs Keeble put posters up in shop windows and followed up possible sightings, but to no avail.

But on Wednesday they received a phone call to say Rosie had been found more than 25 miles away in Essex after a vet scanned the dog's identity chip.

"I still can't believe it's her. When we got her home I just burst out crying," said Mrs Keeble.

"After three or four years we just thought, well, we have to get on with our life so it was a total surprise when we had a phone call saying she had turned up."

'Dog well looked after'

Mrs Keeble, 67, who now has two other dogs, Babe a German shepherd and Sam a collie/retriever cross, said two children had taken her to a vet after finding her standing in the middle of a road in South Woodham Ferrers, near Chelmsford.

The identity of the dog and her owner was revealed when the vet scanned the dog's chip.

"We have no idea where she has been. She has obviously been with someone who has fed and looked after her," she added.

Mrs Keeble said other than having aged a bit and gone deaf, the 11-year-old dog is just the same as ever.

Mr Keeble, 64, said they were looking forward to pampering their old companion and taking her on plenty of walks.