BARNEY the dachshund has Kent firefighters and a caring farmer to thank for saving his life.

He disappeared down a foxhole while chasing rabbits and was trapped for 46 hours.

Members of kent Fire and Rescue at Sittingbourne were called by the RSPCA to retrieve two-year-old Barney, who had been out walking with his owner Ben Corello, 26, of Frognal Lane, Teynham.

Mr Corello said: “He dashed down the foxhole and just could not find his way out. I could hear him barking and his brother Kingsley was whimpering at the entrance because he was missing him so much.

“I rang the RSPCA and they said to leave him for 24 hours but he was still there the next day so the inspector called the firefighters.

Crew manager Stuart Beadle, from Sittingbourne fire station, said: “We used a snake-eyed camera and could see Barney at the end of a 20ft long tunnel. He had scraped the soil to try to get out but was facing the wrong direction.

“We knew we would have to move the soil to get him out so contacted GH Dean Farms in Hempstead Lane, Bapchild, who kindly brought along a mini-excavator to carefully remove about four tons of soil.

“Eventually we managed to retrieve Barney safely but he is a very lucky dog. We would like to thank the farm and also local resident Doreen Parish, who supplied us with tea and cakes during the five hour operation to clear the soil.”

Barney was so dehydrated he had to be put on a drip at the vets. He also had to be neutered because of damage he caused himself trying to get out.