Video: Watch heart-warming moment when puppy is rescued from south Warwickshire ditch after five days

The six-month-old cocker spaniel puppy, Bow, was rescued from a bramble covered ditch five days after she vanished at Burton Dassett Country Park.

Our video shows the moment Bow was reunited with owner Jodie Dance, of Banbury.

Jodie hunted for her beloved pooch for hours on February 19 after the pup vanished but was forced to abandon the search when it got dark.

The next day she put an appeal on Facebook for people to look out for Bow near where she went missing in Burton Dassett Country Park in south Warwickshire.

Five days later a jogger overheard barking coming from a bramble-filled railway embankment about a mile away from the park and raised the alarm.

Drone operator John Watton, 50, was called in and used thermal imaging cameras to spot Bow trapped inside the thicket.

Mr Waatton, from Drone SAR (search and rescue) For Lost Dogs UK, said: “The thermal drone is really good for areas that are really hard to search in.

“A jogger heard barking but couldn’t see the dog so we were called in and I took the drone over to his location. Within a few minutes I picked up a heat signature.

“It was literally about six feet in brambles so all I got was a heat signature of a sort of spaniel, fox-type size. Once I picked that up, the team went into this area, secured any exits and then they went in and grabbed Bow.”

Footage from rescue shows Jodie and her friends hacking down the thick brambles with hedge trimmers before hauling Bow to safety. “It’s probably about a mile from where she went missing. The reaction from the owner was unbelievable. She was completely in tears. To be honest I was nearly blubbering,” said Mr Watton.

Relieved owner Jodie, 37 had taken Bow and her sister Bella for a walk in the countryside when they both ran away.

She said: "They are only pups but they love running so I took them to Burton Dassett and let them off the lead. They were having a fabulous time on the hills but then both disappeared from view and then only Bella came back.

"I had no idea where Bow was but had to stop looking when it went dark so I contacted Drone SAR who were just brilliant.

"Despite Bow being out in the cold for five days she's made a full recovery. It's a miracle she was found and it wouldn't have happened without the thermal drone."

There are numerous stories where a drone with a thermal sensor has detected a heat source of a missing person - sometimes coming to the rescue after an on-the-ground search has failed.

A drone with a thermal camera can cover large areas of ground quickly and can find people who are missing in difficult-to-see locations, such as long grass or woodland.

The expensive devices can be fitted with loud speaker equipment to issue instructions or reassurance to those in distress.