A DOG who disappeared down a rabbit hole on Bodmin Moor, and managed to survive there for 20 days, has been reunited with his owners.

Bilbo, a seven-year-old Border Cross Lakeland, finally came to the surface of his own accord on Sunday. He was weak, skinny and caked in bog mud.

Almost three weeks earlier, on November 7, he was being taken for a walk on the moor at Minions by owner Nicky Harwood, of Dobwalls, when the drama began.

'Bilbo was after rabbits and went down a hole just past Housemans Engine House and a fenced off adit,' said Nicky. 'I called and called for most of the day and in the evening the family went back with torches looking for him but we still had no luck.'

Nicky said firefighters from Liskeard attempted a rescue but they were afraid of collapsing a tunnel and said the best hope was that he would find his own way out, if he was still alive. Days went by and Nicky, together with husband Andy and their son Perry and daughter Georgie, were getting more and more worried. They never missed a day of looking for Bilbo.

Posters were put up in the Hurlers car park and all around the village and many people walked the moors looking for him. Bilbo's bed was put in a cage next to the hole together with food but none of it was touched.

Nicky, who is known as 'The Cow Lady' for her animal portraits, said she had just about given up hope when a fellow trader she met at Liskeard School Christmas Fair on Friday, told her to put a cloth with her scent on down the hole.

'It was the best piece of advice ever,' said Nicky. 'I couldn't believe it when I had a phone call on Sunday to say Bilbo had been found. It is thought he had got himself lost in the dark in a network of tunnels but he was able to follow my scent to get to the surface.'

Bilbo was found by 11-year-old James Palmer who followed the bedraggled little dog back to the car park. There he was recognised by Steve and Micci Cooper, of Tremar Coombe, who were able to get him into their car. Nicky said: 'Bilbo was in a filthy state, shaking and nervous, but he is now eating again quite well and the vet is hopeful for a full recovery in time.'