The animal was finally freed shortly before 5pm and reunited with his relieved owners (Image: Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service )"Crews were mobilised with specialist listening and locating devices.The dog had crawled into an unused badger's sett near Coalville, Leicester (Image: Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service ).

Mullins, 70, who lives in Leicestershire, had founded a Facebook group, Beastwatch UK, in 2001 as a place to document exotic animal sightings in the British countryside, so it was natural for news of this sort to trickle his way.

(Picture Dogs Trust / SWNS)Bella and Max are the most common names for rescue dogs taken in over the past year. Another crossbreed, four-year-old Max, is looking for a new home at the Loughborough centre in Leicestershire.