AN adventurous Border collie got more than he bargained for when he went for a stroll with his owner - and ended up stranded 20ft down a dangerous cliffside.

Five-year-old Bryn was out with owner Gordon Joyce on Monday morning in a rural area off Elbut Lane, Birtle, when he wandered a little too far and ended up half-way down a cliff.

The dog managed to dig out a platform on a ledge so he wouldn't fall a further 20ft down the incline. And after a nerve-racking four-hour wait for help, Bryn was carried to safety by Bury firefighter Anthony Lingard, who abseiled down the cliff and pulled the dog back up with him.

After the nail-biting rescue, Gordon, who lives close to the scene, expressed his relief that his pet had escaped uninjured: "It was a great feeling when he appeared up the top. I think he's used up all his lives," said Gordon. He added: "He fell down at 10.15am and we had tried to get him out on our own at first and eventually we called the fire service a few hours later.

"I tried to climb down to fetch him out but it was too steep. I couldn't make it.

"Our neighbour came out to give us a hand as well. He couldn't get to Bryn either, so we called the fire service. Bryn didn't handle it all too badly. He was on a ledge and was just keeping in the same place.

"There were six of the fire crew and they had somebody who went over the side on a rope. The rescue lasted about 20 minutes."

Firefighters from Bury travelled to the scene, but were unable to reach the cliffside because the track leading to it was too narrow. They then got help from firefighters in Bolton, who sent a smaller unit that could fit down the tracks and take the climbing equipment to the scene.

Firefighter Lingard said: "It has been a brilliant team effort. Everything was set up straight away for me to go down and everyone just pitched in. It's the first time I've ever done anything like this job in an operational rescue. It wasn't a particularly easy rescue, but it was easier to get down than it was to get up.

"The dog was all right when I got down there. I had a quick feel of him to see if he was injured and he didn't yelp. He managed to make himself a little platform but he could have gone a lot further. The dog and the owner were pleased to see each other."