A FIRE boat was used to rescue a Japanese akita fighting dog after it fell 25ft into a dock basin.

Fourteen-month-old Thor was out walking with his owners when he bolted off into the darkness.

As Steph Whitelock and partner Jack McKinley tried to catch up with him, they heard a loud splash and, to their horror, Thor was in the water.

Ms Whitelock told how she immediately ran for help as her partner tried to coax Thor to an access point, at about 9.30pm on Wednesday.

She said: "He went under a couple of times, and a couple of times we nearly lost him. I was petrified.

"The security guard from the nearby works came running over to help and told us to call the fire brigade.

"We can't thank them enough. If it wasn't for the firefighters, Thor wouldn't be here now."

The dog, which stands nearly 3ft tall, is recovering at home in Haverton Hill, Teesside, after being checked by a vet.

Using a fire boat, firefighters from Billingham threw a lasso into the water, which Mr McKinley put over Thor's head.

The pet fell into the Furness Basin, at the former Haverton Hill shipyard, while chasing a rabbit - which was quicker on its feet than the dog.

Steve Johnson, watch manager at Billingham fire station, said: "It had been in the water a good hour and was suffering from hypothermia. We wrapped it up and warmed it up."

* In another dog rescue, two Japanese akitas were found at the bottom of cliffs in Eastham, Wirral.

Firefighters said they had no idea how the animals got there and assumed they had been abandoned.