A dog that fell 180ft down a forgotten mineshaft has been found after six days

Coco, a two-year-old Patterdale terrier, went missing on a walk with her owner Rebecca Lewis, from St Ives, Cornwall.

Mother-of-one Ms Lewis, 38, who had no idea that there were any mine shafts in the area, searched for her dog for six days and had almost given up hope of every seeing Coco alive again.

But Ms Lewis, a self-employed artist and property developer, searched for specialist maps of mine shafts in the area and contacted the dog charity Dog Lost! who put her in touch with a group of cavers — who eventually pulled Coco out of the dry shaft.

Amazingly despite falling down the sheer drop and spending six days without food the vet gave her a clean bill of health, aside from a small cut above her eye and a sore leg — and she did not require any treatment.

Ms Lewis, took Coco for a walk with friends and family on the evening of September 4 when Coco disappeared at a place called Little Brunnion, near Trencrom, Cornwall.

Volunteers from the Cornwall Mines Explorers Club gave their time to help search for Coco.

David Penhaligan, who was part of the mines rescue team, said: “We have done quite a few dog rescues over the last few years but that was the deepest shaft we have ever taken a live dog out of.

“Coco was so lucky because neighbours gave us a very large scale map that was part of their deeds and on it was a square building and quite close to it was a shaft.”