Dog rescued from quicksand on banks of River Severn

Jonathan Powell, left, with Sean Lomas who helped him save his Rottweiler dog Bella

A man has described how he saved his dog from quicksand on the banks of a river with the help of a passer-by.

Jonathan Powell said his Rottweiler Bella started "sinking at a very fast rate" when she became trapped in sand at the River Severn in Gloucestershire.

Sean Lomas heard his screams and ran to help with some rope.

Mr Powell attached it to himself, crawled over the sand and told Mr Lomas to pull him out if he got stuck. Bella was rescued unharmed.

Mr Powell, 33, said he had walked the same route for 10 years without incident and Bella had walking along Arlingham Passage on Saturday when "all-of-a-sudden she just disappeared".

He soon found her trapped in what he believed was quicksand.

Jonathan Powell with his dog Bella and her puppies after the rescue

He said: "She was in very, very deep and that's when I realised... I was going to need some help".

Mr Powell said he had tried to rescue Bella, who had recently had a litter of puppies, but nearly got stuck himself.

He shouted and was heard by Mr Lomas who then helped rescue the dog with the rope.

"Without Sean being there I wouldn't have gone back in sand," Mr Powell said.

"I was going to do everything in my power to save her but my worry was that if I go under I want someone who was a reasonable size to pull, and Shaun's a good-sized lad like myself.

"Luckily we managed to get Bella out, I broke down and couldn't thank him enough.

"I offered him money, a crate of beer, he wouldn't accept it, he said he would have done it for anybody.

"He's on the Christmas list now."