RESCUERS of a dog which fell off a quarry face say he is lucky to be alive.

Jed, a ten-year-old Alsatian, walked away without any injuries after he was trapped 70ft down the quarryside at Crawleyside, near Stanhope, County Durham.

Members of the Teesdale and Weardale Search and Rescue team abseiled down to free Jed, who was wedged behind a branch.

The incident happened on Thursday afternoon as Jed was being taken for a walk by his owner, Christine Linsley, from Crawleyside.

He bolted after a rabbit and went through a hole in the wall at the edge of the quarry.

Mrs Linsley said: "It took me quite a time to find him.

"I searched for about an hour-and-a-half and eventually heard him whimpering and saw him lying on his side.

"It was getting quite dark when the rescue team arrived.

"They had to abseil down to get him.

"At first, they thought that he was injured.

"They had to lower him right the way down to the bottom of the quarry."

Mrs Linsley said Jed was checked over by an RSPCA inspector in the quarry.

She said: "It was quite remarkable there was nothing wrong with him. As soon as he got out of the harness, he was running around like a mad dog.

"I thought it was cats that had the nine lives."

Isabella Barnes, one of the rescue team who abseiled down to help Jed, said: "Over the years, we have had a handful of dog rescues, such as when they have fallen down mineshafts and things like that.

"When we got to the dog, he was whimpering a bit and started growling but I think he realised we were there to help him and was quite easy to handle.

"He was really lucky. He was wedged behind a branch and if he hadn't fallen where he did, he would have gone down all the way."