A small terrier dog had a lucky escape after it fell over a 30ft cliff and was rescued by a lifeboat crew.

The black terrier, named Archie, was walking with its owner in Harwich at around 3pm yesterday when it took a tumble over the cliff and became trapped by the tide.

A spokeswoman for Thames Coastguard said Harwich RNLI inshore lifeboat and Walton Coastguard had been able to deal with the incident swiftly and that animal was fortunate to escape without injury.

She said: “The Harwich RNLI was on exercises in the area so we diverted it to the scene. The owner was at the top of the cliff and the dog was at the bottom but it was high water so the dog couldn’t be reached.

“The cliffs on the Naze are quite sandy based where they have subsided so luckily they are quite soft, but the dog obviously couldn’t get back up the cliff on its own and the tide was in so it became stuck.

“Thankfully the dog wasn’t injured and the lifeboat crewmen were able to rescue it and eventually take it further along the coast where it could be reunited with its owner.”