The owner of a dog which miraculously survived a 70ft fall off a cliff has praised Coastguard and RNLI teams for saving her life.

Holidaymaker Rebecca Derry-Evans, from Bath, was walking her five-year-old Scottish terrier, Gypsy, near Perranuthnoe in west Cornwall when the dog started chasing a rabbit and suddenly disappeared.

Gypsy with owner Rebecca Derry-Edawrds

"I started calling for her and people told me that she had fallen into the sea," said the mother-of-three.

"Someone kindly lent me their mobile phone to call 999 and after about 25 minutes the rescue operation started."

Gypsy had first fallen on a rock some 35ft down in a gully and then another 35ft into the sea. She had managed to scramble on a rock but an incoming wave pushed her back in the water, leaving the dog with nothing to cling on to.

"I thought that was the end of her," Mrs Derry-Evans added. "She must have been in the water for about five minutes. She was freezing cold, traumatised and scared."

The family pet was lying apparently lifeless when a member of the Penlee lifeboat crew waded through a heavy swell to resuscitate the animal.

The choppy seas meant the inshore lifeboat was unable to get close enough, so crewman Dave Raymond volunteered to swim to shore and climb on to the rocks.

When he reached the dog, he discovered she had swallowed her tongue, but he managed to pull it out, then massaged her chest and stomach and was soon rewarded when the animal began to choke, splutter and showed signs of life.

Gypsy and her rescuer were winched up the cliff by the eight-strong Penzance coastguard team headed by Tim Stevens.

Her owners then took Gypsy to a veterinary centre, where she was treated and monitored overnight.

Mrs Derry-Evans says Gypsy is expected to make a full recovery. She added: "It was all very scary and I thought that was the end of her.

"Without the RNLI and Coastguards she would not have had a chance. They treated her like a human being and did a tremendous job."

Mrs Derry-Evans and Gypsy were reunited with her rescuers yesterday morning, when she thanked them for saving her life.