IT gave everyone pause for thought when three-year-old Charlie saved his neighbours, Molly and her six-month-old daughter Minnie, from a possible road accident.

But it was no ordinary rescue, for Charlie is a springer spaniel.

Charlie, who lives with his owner in Tiberius Road, Roman Way, Andover, came to the rescue when he saw his best friends Molly and Minnie - two shih tzus - wandering towards the road after someone left their gate open.

With dogged determination he leapt over his garden gate and, one at a time, pinned the two onto the ground allowing a neighbour to get them and take them home.

"I'm so proud of him, we should have called him Lassie," said his owner Carol Tarrant.

Susan Allen, owner of Molly and Minnie, while impressed with Charlie, wasn't at all surprised by the tale with a happy ending. "The three of them cannot go a day without playing together - Molly and Minnie always sit waiting for him to come over," she said.

For the full story see Friday's Andover Advertiser