TWO terriers who became trapped underground in a clifftop crevice survived for ten and 12 days before being discovered.

Their owner, Darren Lumsden, lost them during an evening walk along cliffs in Marske, near Redcar, east Cleveland.

But his brother, Scott, and other friends never gave up searching. They scoured the area looking down rabbit holes and putting posters up.

Ten days later, a friend heard a weak bark from a crack in the clifftop.

Mr Lumsden and his friends dug frantically before finding four-year-old dog Louis 12ft down a narrow hole.

He was brought weak but alive to the surface.

Two days later, pest control officer Mr Lumsden found Rufus down another hole, using a camera normally used to probe drains.

The 31-year-old of Howard Driver, Marske, said: "They've been very, very lucky.

"The worst thing was not knowing what had happened to them. I didn't know if they'd fallen in a hole, fallen off the cliff, run off to join the circus or anything.

"When we got Louis out it was bitter-sweet. I was overjoyed we'd got him, but the elation went because I expected both of them to come out. We shouted and called but there was nothing, so we called it a day.

"On the Saturday and Sunday we used a CCTV unit to see if we could see anything down the hole.

"I'd practically given up hope, but when I pushed it into a different hole, my friend said he could see something.

"I looked at the monitor and could see this black hairy thing, breathing. The next thing I knew it looked into the camera and licked its nose. I was blown away.

"From that second everyone just steamed in to get him out as quickly as possible."

Mr Lumsden said the dogs were weak and thin, but are recovering.

His brother, Scott, said: "It was overwhelming. Everyone was screaming 'dig, dig.'

"They are both thick set, strong dogs, so they must have survived on their body fat. But to find them both alive was unbelievable."