Dog rescued from seven-hour sewer ordeal

A Jack Russell has been rescued after hours of being lost down a sewer pipe.

Spike went missing from a garden near Broadhempston, Devon, at about 15:30 BST on Wednesday.

Firefighters heard him barking in the sewer pipe and found him wedged inside and retrieved him, about seven hours after he went missing.

His owner Kate Haddrell said she was "so relieved" to have her pet back and Spike was unharmed but a bit smelly.

The Buckfastleigh crew said they were joined by a team from Newton Abbot who had a camera for probing the 328ft (100m) pipe.

"Having put the camera down all the possible entry points and dug an inspection trench we found one more inspection pit in the middle of the field and it was here where we managed to see Spike wedged within the pipe," a spokesperson for Buckfastleigh Fire Service said.

"Luckily Spike saw the light on the end of the camera as his way out in the dark and with some coaxing from his owners slowly but surely managed to inch his way backwards until he was able to be grabbed."

Ms Haddrell told BBC News she was "so relieved" to have him back covered in mud and a little traumatised, but in one piece.

She thanked the fire service for their help.

"I was very concerned, it's a big area to search and we were worried we would have to abandon the search for the night," she said.

"I was overjoyed to finally get him back."

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