An athletic dog got more than he bargained for when he jumped over a four foot high wall.

Ted, a 100lb, four-year-old mastiff x boxer, ended up plunging 20 feet into the River Thames at Northfleet.

It sparked a major rescue involving fire service, London coastguard and the Gravesend lifeboat.

Ted was unable to climb a ladder, even when his owner, London cab driver Simon Hurry, went down and hoisted the dog onto his shoulders.

Eventually the lifeboat came to the rescue, and Simon waded out with his chastened heavyweight hound.

His wife, Rebecca, said: "When we got him home he had a bath and a hot meal, and he seems none the worse for the experience. But why he did it we don't know."