FIREFIGHTERS were joined by a team from Thames Water in a four hour overnight battle to rescue a Jack Russell dog trapped in a water drainage pipe.

Langley firefighters were called to a field between Horton Road, London Road and Crown Meadow, Colnbrook at 9.15pm last night.

Rescuers finally reached the exhausted dog at 1.30am this morning after digging a trench and boring a hole into the concrete drain pipe where the frightened pooch was trapped.

The dog had already been in the pipe for three hours after chasing a fox into it when firefighters were called. The pipe was only 6ins to 8ins in diameter and 1m underground.

The rescue proved a challenge as the Langley firefighters were joined by a heavy rescue team from Tilehurst - and eventually, after midnight by staff from the waste service maintenance providers the Lanes Group, which has offices in Slough and handles works for Thames Water.

Listening equipment and a ‘snake eye’ camera were used to check the position of the dog who at one point was 10m inside the drain.

A Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: “There was also a bedraggled looking fox down there although it did not need rescuing as they are used to being underground.” Firefighters sealed up the pipe - which was not part of the Thames Water’s network - to ensure that no more animals got trapped.