A family have thanked firefighters for rescuing their dog after it became trapped between two houses.

Bernadette Lewis, 44, and her husband Jamie, 42, and their children Billie, 15, and Jamie, 17, were relieved when their Jack Russell Ozzy emerged without any injuries after the two-hour rescue mission at their home in Northumberland Avenue, Hornchurch, last Wednesday at around 7.15pm.

Bernadette said: “I felt really embarassed about calling the firefighters, but they came straight away and they were just so fantastic.

“They were genuinely concerned about Ozzy’s welfare, and they tried to keep him calm throughout.”

Jamie was forced to call the London Fire Brigade when he found two-year-old Ozzy was trapped in a four-inch gap between his house and that of his next door neighbour.

Fence panel

Firefighters from Hornchurch used cutting equipment and airbags, to remove a fence panel and to eventually free Ozzy.

Bernadette said: “It was really scary.“There was one point that they said that if they don’t get him out then we are going to have to call a vet to anesthetise him, but luckily it didn’t get to that point.”

The family, who also have two cats and another dog, believe that the incident could have happened after Ozzy followed the cat between the two houses.

The family, who have had Ozzy since he was six weeks old, say that this is the first time that something like this has ever happened. Bernadette said: “He is very mischievous, but I just don’t understand why he would want to run around the side of the house when he has a whole big garden.

“He is such a big part of the family. We bought him for my daughter when one of our other dogs died, but we all love him he is just like another one of my children.”

Firefighter Keith Soundy said: “We usually get called out to a few cases where dogs have got themselves stuck but this was more complicated because of the difficulty of access for us.”