A couple found themselves with an unexpected house guest after they saw a dog being abandoned.

The male collie-cross was playing on the site of the former airfield in Lympne, not far from the County Members pub, when one of the people with it hit a ball a long way with a bat.

While the dog chased after the ball, the couple climbed over a fence, jumped into their car and fled.

Maurice Simpson, who was walking his own dog nearby, saw the incident and waited to see if the owners returned.

They didn’t, so he took the dog back to his home in Beacon Way before alerting Shepway District Council, which is appealing for help to try to trace the owners.

Mr Simpson’s wife, Pam, says the dog, who they called Rupert, looked well cared-for and loved.

She said. “He is well behaved and gives his paw. He was very bewildered at first but soon settled down.

“He will make someone a lovely pet and I pray he will find a good home.

“We have a 15-year-old dog and a 19-year-old cat and because we are both pensioners don’t feel it is responsible for us to take him ourselves.”

Council enforcement supervisor Karyl Rimmer said the male collie has a lump on its rib cage which could be a fatty lump or a tumour.

“Maybe someone didn’t want to pay a vet’s bill but this is no reason for the dog to be deliberately abandoned,” she said. “This was such a callous thing to do and betrayed the dog’s trust in a terrible way.”

Two other dogs have been picked up by Shepway’s environment committee officers and will be looking for good homes if their owners do not come forward.

Both are female lurchers and were found on April 20. One has black, tan and white collie markings and was found at Postling, the other has a short, sandy-coloured coat and black muzzle and was found at Densole. Both were wearing collars but had no tag or microchip.

Anyone who knows these dogs’ owners or who would like to offer them a home should call 01303 858660.