A dog owner has praised a 'heroic' train driver after he rescued her pet from the tracks.

Victoria Rowley's dog, Pepper, found herself in danger when she wandered on the line between Chatham and Rochester yesterday, at around 1.30pm.

Luckily, the driver spotted the cockapoo, stopped the train, went and picked her up and carried her onboard, before taking inside Rochester station.

Pepper found her way onto the tracks after she ran away from her owners, getting hit by a car in the process.

Relieved owner Victoria said: "She bolted off, got hit by a car then managed to get by the tracks somehow.

"Miraculously she’s perfectly fine, but we’re so grateful to the driver, and to all the Southeastern staff who were able to retrieve her, as it may have been a different story had the driver not come to the rescue.

"We knew she was keen on trains, but not this keen. Like I said, had staff not intervened like real heroes we might have lost our Pepper.

"She’s currently having lots of cuddles and feeling very sorry for herself, buts she fine thank goodness."

Commuter Alexandra Falcsik, pictured the drivers heroics, tweeting: "Shoutout to @Se_Railway driver for stopping the train between Chatham and Rochester to save a dog from the tracks."

The picture was circulated on social media and led to two-year-old pooch's owners friends picking her and taking her to a vets to be checked over, before being reuinted.Southeastern has been approached for a comment.

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