Lifeboat volunteers came to the rescue of a dog trapped on the banks of the River Tees - warming it up in a survival blanket before reuniting it with the grateful owner. 

Redcar volunteer crew were paged after reports to the Coastguard of a dog in the water close to Dinosaur Park on the River Tees, in Middlesbrough, at 6.25pm last night (Friday, March 22). 

The dog had run through the embankment fence and was unable to get back up the bank to its owner.

Redcar’s Atlantic 85 lifeboat Leicester Challenge III was sent out to search for and recover the dog from the river. The lifeboat arrived on scene at 7.10pm.

After approaching the area slowly just in case the dog was in the water, the crew spotted the dog on the shore. The Coastguard were able to highlight the dog from the top of the bank with a torch.The Northern Echo: Rescued dog with Harry Guy

A member of the lifeboat crew waded to the shore and retrieved the dog returning with it to the lifeboat.

Derek Sutton, Helm on the Atlantic 85 said: "Once we had the dog safely on board the lifeboat, we wrapped it up in a survival blanket to keep it warm.

"I decided that the best course of action was to return the dog to the lifeboat station at Redcar where it could be reunited with its owner."

The RNLI always advises people not to get into danger by attempting to rescue an animal themselves.

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Mike Picknett, Lifeboat Operations Manager at Redcar RNLI said: 'This was a job well done by our volunteer crew.

"Our advice to dog walkers is to keep your dog on a lead when walking close to the water’s edge and not to go into the water or mud after them if they get stuck.

"Do what the owner did on this occasion and call 999 and ask for the Coastguard."

You can get more dog walking advice from the RNLI at RNLI.org/TopDog.