A MUCH-loved dog that disappeared when she was spooked by a firework two weeks ago has turned up safe and well – 200 miles away.

Darren Yates, a 27-year-old joiner, was walking his Springer Spaniel, Tia, near York’s Millennium Bridge when she was frightened by a firework.

“She just bolted with her tail between her legs, over the bridge towards the allotments,” he said.

He spent hours looking for his pet that night and for the next 12 nights – but there was no sign of Tia.

He and a friend even set up a Facebook page which attracted more than 2,000 visits in a fortnight.

"It’s quite surprising how many people got involved. A lot of people went out looking without me even asking, it shows good community spirit,” he said.

However, Tia was finally found sitting by the side of a busy road in Watford, Hertfordshire, where she was picked up by a kindly motorist.

He took her to a vet who scanned Tia’s microchip and she and Mr Yates have now been reunited.

“I would recommend the chip to anyone. If it wasn’t for that, I don’t think we would have her,” said Mr Yates.

“I have no idea how she managed to get so far away. I think someone picked her up and took her down there, and she’s escaped.

"It’s very unlikely she’s got into a lorry herself but someone has had her because she had a collar on which wasn’t the one I gave her.”

He travelled down to the vet to pick Tia up.

“She was ecstatic - she went bonkers,” he said.

“She’s absolutely fine now, and I’m going to change our walking habits next bonfire night.”