Sam the seven-week-old pup found himself in a jam when he went exploring at his new home - and had to be rescued by burly firemen.

Sam had to be extracted from an underground pipe by firemen after he climbed through a central heating vent and dropped into a hole.

They used a special camera to find out where he was, before poking him towards an escape route with a hose.

The mischievous Staffordshire Bull Terrier puppy had been fast asleep in his basket when owner Tina Hudson, 27, left to take her younger daughter Naomi, three, to playschool.

She said: "When I left he was asleep. I usually take him with me to school because he's only seven weeks old, he's just a baby.

"I left the telly on so he would think someone was still at home. The kids had pulled the heating vent grille off but I didn't dream he would go in there."

Miss Hudson said when she returned, after leaving the house for just 45 minutes Sam had disappeared and she thought he had gone upstairs.

She said: "Then I heard him inside the wall and I started panicking. I tried my hardest to get him out but he went further along. I thought he wouldn't be able to breathe."

She added: "He's a menace. It's the first time I've really left him and he has to go and do that." Miss Hudson praised the fire brigade for arriving so quickly and calming her down, as well as rescuing Sam.

Fire crews managed to free the naughty pup in about 15 minutes, by taking apart a cupboard so Miss Hudson could reach in and grab him.

Assistant Divisional Officer Nigel Robinson, of Oxfordshire Fire Service said: "They had taken the vent off and the dog thought 'Hmm I'll have a look down here' and off he went and fell inside.

"It's about 18 inches under the house and goes around the house and he had got part of the way along it. We tried to entice him out but that didn't work so we used a length of hose reel tube and pushed him along.

"Apart from being a bit dusty and rather subdued he was fine."

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