A stolen dog has been reunited with his overjoyed owner after it was finally found 260 miles away from home almost a year after he was taken.

Adam Stonier, 26, was devastated when his pet lurcher Ben was snatched by thieves from a field by his home in Preston, Lancashire, in September.

He kept appealing for sightings of his pet via social media - but hope of finding the missing dog seemed slim as the months went by without news.

However he finally got a call out of the blue after Ben was found wandering the streets of Fawkham, five hours drive away from his home.

Mr Stonier was traced as the owner by the dog's microchip and rushed to collect him in an emotional reunion earlier this month.

Mr Stonier said that his dog had been grabbed by a group of men in a van after the pooch managed to break out of his back yard into a nearby field.

It's not clear where he was living for the past months or how he ended up on the streets.

And the delighted dog owner added that it's a happy ending in more ways than one as his pet's wandering ways are now over.

"Before he was taken he would often try and escape from the garden but he now he never leaves my side," he said.