A 10-month-old puppy escaped miraculously uninjured after plunging nearly 100ft from cliffs in Purbeck.

Molly, a Norfolk Terrier puppy, was being walked by her owners near the Old Harry Rocks, Studland, when she fell an estimated 30 metres into the sea at around 3.30pm on Saturday afternoon.

The Swanage Coastguards and Poole's RNLI lifeboat rushed to the scene after being called by the dog's owner after the dog was spotted in the sea on the north west side of the rocks, before disappearing from view.

As the rescue services arrived and started searching the surrounding beaches and sea, a crowd of around 100 people had gathered to help the search.

Molly was found shortly after on a nearby beach to cheers from the watching crowd, and it is believed the puppy landed in the sea and swam to the nearest beach before she was rescued.

She luckily had no injuries and although cold and wet, required no veterinary treatment following her ordeal.

It is understood the dog was not on a lead prior to the fall and a Swanage Coastguard officer said the owners had written to the rescue team to apologise for the pet not being on a lead and to thank the coastguards for rescuing Molly.

A spokesman for RNLI said: “The owner had lost sight of her and the alarm was raised.

“Poole inshore lifeboat proceeded to the bottom of the cliff and volunteer crewman Pete Smith got out of the boat and made his way to the beach on the north side of Old Harry.

“He then caught sight of a brown dog, it was Molly. She immediately ran towards him and was very pleased to meet him.

“Pete scooped her up and returned to the lifeboat where the crew gave her a check over and a reassuring stroke.”

The Marine Coastguard Agency has reiterated its plea for dog walkers to keep their pets on leads at all times when walking on coastal paths.

A spokesman for the agency said: “We always urge dog walkers to keep dogs on leads at all times.

“The dog might be well behaved and used to not being on a lead but you just never know when the dog might see something and just run off and it is very dangerous for them, so please keep pets on leads at all times when walking on the coast.”