An officer who saved a dog’s life has spoken of his relief at the rescue.

Josh Thurlow, a police community safety officer for Canning Town North, had to screech to a halt when he saw the Jack Russell terrier zip in front of traffic in West Ham Lane.

“The dog ran out in front of us and we just managed to stop,” said PCSO Thurlow, who was on duty with PC Holly Hoare at the incident last Monday afternoon.

“He then ran over to us, we put him in the van and he was shaking loads.”

The officers identified the pet as Ralph from his collar, and took the shocked dog to the Animal Welfare Team, who reunited him with his owner the next day.

“We’re used to looking for and reuniting children with their parent, but this time it was a dog.

“We were glad once we found out he was back with his owners.

He joked: “He was a character and we were tempted to keep him as the office dog if we couldn’t find his owners.”