A nine-year-old Collie-cross dog was rescued yesterday after falling over cliffs near Seatown, Dorset on Sunday despite the severe weather.

Portland Coastguard received a 999 call from the dog owner reporting that the dog had gone over the edge of Ridge Cliffs, to the east of Seatown but believed he was stuck on a grassy ledge about a third of the way down the 100m high cliffs.

The Coastguard Rescue Team from West Bay were sent to the area and attempted to rescue the Collie, named Jack, in the fading light. Although they were able to get a cliff man to within six feet of the dog, due to a crevice directly above the dogs position and very crumbly cliffs, were unable to recover Jack.

A second attempt was made early yesterday morning by the Cliff Rescue team and Lyme Bay Sector Manager. Despite severe gale force winds, the team were able to successfully recover Jack back to the cliff top. Jack is now re-united with his owner.

Allan Norman, Watch Manager, Portland Coastguard Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, said: "This is an excellent example of the training and skills of Coastguard Rescue teams. The team was able to complete the rescue despite the dog being in a very difficult to access position and atrocious weather conditions for the team to work in. I understand when the Coastguard Rescue Officer reached the ledge, Jack was more than eager to be rescued and gave him a very warm welcome."

"I would like to remind dog walkers to keep their pets on a lead when close to the cliff edge. In this case, the owners were lucky, in many other cases the result for the dog and owner can be far more tragic."