SEADOG Ben the Labrador got a bit out of his depth during a game of fetch - and had to be rescued by lifeboatmen.

Worried Martin and Muriel Wheeler, of Chester-le-Street, County Durham, called to their pet for 40 minutes as he nudged the ball further away from Seaburn beach in Sunderland.

The three-year-old animal had doggy-paddled half a mile out to sea chasing his favourite ball by the time his owners decided to call the coastguard.

Immediately, the lifeboat crew in Sunderland was scrambled and within 20 minutes had Ben back ashore.

Mrs Wheeler, 45, said: "His only aim was to bring that ball back but instead he was going the wrong way. We kept calling, but he wouldn't come back without it. He wouldn't leave the ball."

Members of Sunderland Volunteer Life Brigade waited on the shore with the anxious owners.

Mr Wheeler, 46, was able to guide the crews to his pet by mobile phone and they lifted Ben, wet but none the worse for his adventure, out of the water.

Muriel, who works at Consett Baths, said: "I was crying with joy when they brought him back. I couldn't believe it.

"He had been in there a full hour but he wasn't even exhausted. He got out of the boat as if nothing had happened."

Lifeboat cox Ernie Laws said: "You really have to watch yourself because sometimes the dogs can be aggressive.

"They don't know what you are trying to do for them.

"But this one was lovely. He actually swam to us. I think he was getting tired."

The crew rescues between 15 and 20 dogs each year.