A dog fell more than 100ft down an almost vertical cliff face - but escaped without a single scratch, to the amazement of her rescuers.

Three fire appliances, a line rescue team, a cliff rescue team and two officers went to the aid of Holly the spaniel after she plunged half way down the 300ft cliff at Capel Le Ferne, near Folkestone in Kent.

I was half expecting to find it dead at the bottom but luckily it found a ledge half-way down

Firefighter Mike Godden

They were alerted at about 1950 BST on Thursday by the dog's owner, an elderly man who had been out walking on the cliff top with his pet when the accident happened.

Folkestone firefighters Mark Seal and Paul Garrity were lowered down the cliff wearing rescue harnesses and armed with a thermal imaging camera to make it easier to locate Holly in the dark.

'As good as vertical'

They found her stranded on a ledge 120ft down and checked her over before placing her in a line rescue bag to be hauled back up with them and reunited with her owner within an hour-and-a-half.

If it's an animal or a person, it is treated exactly the same - to us it's a life

Mike Godden

Leading firefighter Mike Godden, of Folkestone Fire Station, said: "The dog had no injuries whatsoever.

"The actual cliff face has about a 160-degree drop, as good as vertical all the way down. I was half expecting to find it dead at the bottom but luckily it found a ledge half way down.

"All the blokes who carried out the rescue were amazed that they found the dog, especially with no injuries."

He added that while the owner had been happy to have his pet back, he was also surprised by the number of firefighters who turned out with such sophisticated rescue equipment and that they were able to rescue Holly so quickly.

There were 19 people involved in the rescue in total. Mr Godden said: "If it's an animal or a person, it is treated exactly the same. To us it's a life."