A YOUNG lurcher dog is back home recovering after becoming impaled on a metal pole while being exercised by his owner on a riverbank run.

Banjo is slowly getting back to fitness and becoming more adventurous after overcoming a two-and-a-half hour operation at a vet's surgery to remove the pole.

Miraculously, despite the spike piercing his stomach and emerging from his back, it only damaged part of his bowel and small intestine.

Owner Sol Walker was out with his dogs Banjo and Didgeridoo on the banks of the River Wear, near Pelaw Woods, Durham, when the accident took place.

"He was dashing at full speed through the undergrowth, when he suddenly started writhing around.

"I went over and there was this spike which had been in some reinforced concrete, among discarded scrap, which completely pierced him.

"The spike was about a metre-long and he was obviously upset."

Two passers-by and a rowing coach, giving a training session on the river, came to Mr Walker's aid and raised the alarm.

Firefighters from Durham station reached the scene carrying a mobile generator to enable them to use cutting equipment to sever both ends of the spike.

Mr Walker then carried Banjo up to a car to take him to a vet's surgery for treatment.

The vet was able to remove the spike and after spending two days recovering at the surgery, Mr Walker was able to bring Banjo back to his home in Durham.

"He was confined to the house for a couple of days but he's had his first walk.

"He's still a bit tender, but his spirits are high and he's making a full recovery."

Mr Walker, a school PE teacher, thanked the rowing coach and passers-by, red watch at Durham Fire Station and the Abbey Vet's Practice in Crossgate Moor, Durham, for helping Banjo on the road to recovery.

He also called for the scrap dumped near the riverbanks to be removed to prevent further accidents.