A dog dressed in a red festive jumper became the first-ever service call out on Christmas Day for volunteers of Lyme Regis RNLI.

The crew headed out to sea to search for a dog which had fallen from the top of cliffs at Pinhay Bay. Emergencies services had been called by the dog’s owners after it had disappeared over the edge of the cliff and was unable to make its way back up to the top, or down to the beach.

The Spirit of Loch Fyne at 12:58 pm and arrived on scene seven minutes later to search the cliffs towards Humble Point. The volunteer crew eventually spotted the dog, a beagle/pug cross named ‘Cook’, perched on a ledge 20 metres up the cliff face. Two crew members swam ashore and, once on the beach, attempted to coax the dog down to safety.

Volunteer crewman Andy Butterfield said: "The dog could see us and hear us, but he made it very clear he was not interested in leaving his ledge and making his way down to the beach. All he did was sit up there barking and howling at us. The base of the cliff was too unstable for us to climb up to him, so we quickly concluded that ‘Cook’ would have to be rescued from above."

HM Coastguard Rescue Teams from Lyme Regis and Beer had also been tasked to the incident. They set up equipment to enable them to carry out a rope rescue. ‘Cook’, apparently uninjured by his Christmas Day drama, was eventually reunited with its grateful owners on the cliff top.

Spirit of Loch Fyne returned to Lyme Regis at 3:50 pm and crews were able to rejoin their families for a delayed Christmas lunch. This was the 55th service call RNLI Lyme Regis crew have responded to this year, the highest number since the charity reopened the station in 1967.

The advice to dog owners from the RNLI and HM Coastguard is to keep your dog on a lead when you are close to a cliff edge or harbour wall.