Pippa the spaniel hauled to safety unhurt after falling 150 feet down Salcombe Cliffs

PIPPA the black and white spaniel, is lucky to be alive, after falling 150 feet off Salcombe Hill cliffs near Sidmouth, on Sunday.

It took 13 members of Beer and Sidmouth Coastguard rescue team more than three hours, working in the dark with torches, to hoist the uninjured dog to safety.

Terry Hoare, station officer for Beer Coastguard rescue team, said: “It was a bit of a job as they were half-way down 187 steps near Salcombe Mouth when the dog went over.

“We had to carry all our gear down the steps – and back up again – including two lines of 600 feet of rope, stakes, harnesses and safety ropes.”

He said Pippa was one of three spaniels being walked by owner Shelia Greed who lives near Exeter.

The rescue services were called at around 6.30pm, just as light was beginning to fade.

Sheila was advised by a member of Sidmouth Lifeboat, who was using the steps at the time of Pippa’s fall, to call out the coastguard.

Pippa luckily landed on a plateau on the cliffs and rescuers managed to call her to them. She was put in a dog bag to be hoisted to safety.