A DOPEY ten-stone dog had to be rescued by the fire brigade after he tried to get into his house through a catflap - and got stuck fast for an hour.

Biff, a Newfoundland, managed to get his head through the hole which the family's cats used to get in and out of the kitchen. But he could not pull his head back and became wedged tight.

When her children told her what had happened Biff's owner Lydia Prescott, 36, at first thought the dog had simply poked his nose through from the utility room where his basket is kept. But when they insisted Biff was distressed she ran downstairs to find him struggling to free his head from the 6in wide hole in the door.

Mrs Prescott, of Fordingbridge, got neighbour June Birt to look after Christiana, five, and three-year-old James while husband Bob Birt tried to help.

He was able to unscrew the plastic frame of the catflap from the door but could not remove it from Biff's head, so they phoned the fire brigade.

When Jim Green, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service's animal rescue specialist, arrived Biff managed to pull his head back through the hole but still had the plastic round his neck. Jim then used plastic cutters to free the dog.

Mrs Prescott, a library superviser who also has a ten-year old daughter Rosanna, added: "Immediately afterwards Biff was fine and acting as if nothing had happened.

"We will not be replacing the catflap because Biff is not the brightest of dogs and I'm quite sure he would be stupid enough to put his head through and get stuck again.

"He's a big, soft loveable dog with a lovely nature and is great with the children, but he's pretty silly. He's now ten years old and he's not got any wiser with age."

Mrs Prescott's husband, 41-year-old Tim, an NVQ training assessor, was at work at the time. The family have two cats, Marmalade and Twilight, as well as a labrador called Nala.