May Griffiths and her dog Sally were reunited after eight days

Sally, the Jack Russell terrier pup, had been out on a Saturday afternoon walk with her owner's neighbour when she fell down the 40 foot deep hole.

Despite rescue efforts by the fire service, Sally was believed to have died from the fall on the Bwlch Mountain and her devastated owner May Griffiths bought a new pup to replace her companion.

But unknown to Mrs Griffiths, her neighbours carried out an investigation of their own, discovered that Sally was alive and set about a week-long operation to free the dog.

"I had been told that Sally had died and was absolutely heartbroken," explained Mrs Griffiths, from Llwynypia, Rhondda.

The dog fell down a hole like this one on Bwlch mountain

"What I didn't realise was that my neighbours had found out that she was alive and they spent days trying to dig her out.

"They didn't want to tell me she was alive just in case they weren't able to free her, and I was so lost without her that I bought an eight-week-old puppy, named Sooty, for company.

"Even so, I was still very upset and cried for days - I even cancelled a holiday I had planned," she added.

Neighbours and rescue teams including the West Brecon Cave Rescue Team, the RSPCA and Dinas Mines Rescue worked on freeing the dog for a week before finally bringing her up eight days later on Mrs Griffiths' 80th birthday.

"It was the best birthday present I could ever have had," said Mrs Griffiths.

Mrs Griffiths is overjoyed to have her dogs at home

"But I think Sally's nose was a bit put out of joint when she realised there was another pup in the house.

"I just want to thank everyone for all their help, especially my neighbours because they spent hours up there and even lost work looking for her," she added.

Yvonne Davies, whose husband Gwyn and son James helped with the rescue said that bringing Sally home was an emotional moment for everyone.

"We had all been so upset when she got stuck because we could hear her but couldn't reach her," she said.

Neighbours and rescuers dug out the hole to save the dog

"My husband lost four days of work because he was so worried and he spent hours every day up there digging with his bare hands to get her out.