A Minster man has thanked Sheppey firefighters for rescuing his dog after it become trapped on a cliff face this morning.

Gary Jessop and his daughter Zoe were walking pets Tilly and Poppy at the top of Oak Lane, Minster, when curious Poppy slipped from the edge and fell about three metres down.

He called the emergency services after seeing no option to safely retrieve the four-year-old border collie himself.

Firefighters from the Sheppey station left at 9.20am and on arrival they used rope and harnesses to lower a crew member down and put the animal in a sling before lifting it to safety.

The whole operation took around 20 minutes and the grateful canine even gave its rescuer a few licks on the face as a thank you.

Mr Jessop said: “We’ve been up that way dozens of times before. We had another dog with us and we put her on the lead but Poppy got a bit too close to the edge and all of a sudden she disappeared over the edge.

“I thought, oh crikey, what’s happened here?

“When I got there she had fallen quite a bit but fortunately it was soft mud so she was OK.

“I looked up and down the cliff and it was sheer cliff. I had read in the local press about people getting rescued from the mud and I didn’t like to call the fire brigade because it didn’t seem worth a call out but I’m glad I did because she was getting a bit distressed while we were deciding what to do."

The 56-year-old thanked the firefighters for their efforts.

He said: “They were fantastic. I can’t thank them enough. I was very impressed. They got down and hoisted her up very quickly. All credit to them.”

Sheppey watch manager Andy Bridger-Smart said: “It [Poppy] was a very playful thing.”
He added: “The mud was very wet and sticky and still very treacherous.”