Dog trapped on beach

Scarlet's look of relief as Coastguard teams came to the rescue, photo by Newhaven Coastguard

The pet, named Scarlet, was stranded below the Smugglers Rest, Telscombe, when crews from Newhaven, Shoreham, and Birling Gap came to the rescue.

A spokesperson for Newhaven Coastguard described the dramatic situation.

They said: "Teams accessed from the Portobello Sewage Treatment Works to the end of the small promenade.

"With a rough sea and incoming tide we estimated a window of 30 minutes to complete the rope rescue.

"Sea conditions were considered too rough for Brighton Lifeboat to safely land a rescue swimmer so they stood off as safety cover and a communications link."

They also requested the Fire and Rescue Service as a further back up plan.

Specialist rope rescue equipment was rigged and a cliff technician lowered to the ever decreasing area of beach.

Scarlet had become trapped on a ever-decreasing patch of beach cut-off by the sea

Luckily, Scarlet the dog was scopped up and put into the Coastguard's animal rescue bag and safely recovered to the top of the 20ft area of cliff, where the Coastguard rescue technician handed Scarlet over to the fire and rescue team.

The spokesperson said: "Scarlet’s owner did absolutely the correct thing by not attempting to rescue the dog himself.

"Never attempt self rescue as you may get into difficulty yourself which gives us two casualties to deal with.

"If you are planning to walk under the cliffs always check the tides and weather forecast.

A lucky Scarlet was rescued by the Coastguard teams

"Ideally let someone know your planned return time so they can raise the alarm if you are overdue; remember you don’t always have mobile phone reception under the cliffs.

"So with a happily ending shaggy dog story at the end the year, please have a safe Christmas."