A dog walker has praised a couple who helped save his pet from drowning after it plunged into a freezing river at night.

Piers Grundy was exercising five-year-old Mili when she jumped over a low wall into the Stour in the city centre.

The 45-year-old company director said: “It was pitch black and she was sniffing around but clearly didn’t realise the river was there.

“She leapt over the wall expecting a path on the other side but instead there was a two-metre drop straight down into the water.

“Fortunately, I still had hold of her extending dog lead but there was no way I could reach down far enough and she was starting to drift down river with the flow.

“It was freezing cold, pitch black and the river looked quite different from in the daytime. It was like a dangerous canal and I could see she was struggling and fast losing her strength.”

The drama happened in Solly’s Orchard, near the Miller’s Arms.

Piers, a former lifeboatman and lifeguard, says he was well aware of the dangers of jumping into unknown, freezing waters in the dark.

He shouted for help but passers-by simply avoided him and walked away.

Mili’s head was starting to go under the water but Piers said he feared she would slip her collar if he tried to reel her in.

Just as he thought he had no choice but to take the risk and go in after her, a young couple stopped and asked if they could help.

He said: “Fortunately, the man looked like quite a strong chap and I asked him to hold onto my ankles as I leant right over down to the water so I could grab Mili.

“I managed to get hold of her and pull her up and the girl helped get her over the wall for me. They were complete strangers and I can’t thank them enough. They probably saved her from drowning. They just patted her and went on their way.”

Piers, who lives in Cobham, was down visiting friends in St Peter’s Lane with his wife, Hannah, when the drama happened.

He said: “Because of the drive down, I was just giving Mili a short walk before we sat down for dinner, but it turned into something far more dramatic.

“We don’t have children and Mili is a rescue dog who is like family to us now. We would have been heartbroken if anything had happened to her, but fortunately she is none the worse for the experience.”