A lucky dog dodged death after it survived a horror 50ft plunge from a bridge onto rocks.

Labrador cross Monty was on a walk with his owner Louise Buckley, 51, and a friend near Banff, Aberdeenshire, on Monday when disaster struck.

As Ms Buckley, 51, admired the view from the Bridge of Alvah, Monty jumped up on to the wall on the bridge, but quickly lost his footing.

Before she could react, his owner watched helplessly as Monty plummeted out of view below.

University lecturer Ms Buckley, who has a background as an emergency vet, thought there was no way he could survive but was astounded when the sound of him whimpering drifted up from the rocks below.

With no way of getting to him, her friend called the emergency services who came to their aid.

Firefighters eventually reached him after a rescue boat was brought to the scene, with the lucky pup reunited with his extremely grateful owner.

Amazingly, Monty didn’t suffer any fractures and, other than some bruising, is uninjured.

Ms Buckley said: ‘We had never been there before, so I don’t think he realised we were that high up when he jumped on to the wall.

‘He tried to turn and jump down again but lost his footing and fell.

‘We heard branches breaking. I thought he would be dead, but my friend said she heard him whimper.

‘Eventually we spotted him on the rocks below, but we couldn’t get to him.’

When the firefighters in the boat reached Monty they helped him into the boat – still carrying the ball he’d had in his mouth when he went over.

Ms Buckley still can’t believe how lucky he was to survive the fall.

She said: ‘It’s the equivalent of falling out of a sixth floor of a block of flats.

‘When I got him back, he was in remarkably good shape. By rights he should have been dead.’

Monty underwent several x-rays at his local vets, which showed he didn’t suffer any fractures despite his horror fall.

Animal lover Ms Buckley, who owns 18 dogs, five sheep and four horses on her smallholding, said she would have been ‘devastated’ if he had died.

She said: ‘He is a major part of my household. It’s just me and my pets. I would have been devastated if I’d lost him.’