A couple whose car was stolen with their sleeping dog inside were celebrating after both were returned safely.

Kirsty Smythe and her husband David were overwhelmed when Irish terrier Connor was returned to them safe and well after a nationwide media appeal.

They never thought they would get the £19,000 car back and police told them it had probably already left the country.

But yesterday the car was found, minus its number plates.

Mrs Smythe, of Highfields, East Grinstead, said: "The car was found in the same area as Connor was, Bexleyheath in Kent.

"A woman noticed it sitting there since Friday and went to have a look.

"The licence plates were different but the tax disc still had the original number on it. This is a happy ending."

The ordeal began when Mrs Smythe was sitting in her car in a car wash. It was halfway through the cycle when it stopped.

She left the keys in the ignition and went into the shop at the Esso garage in Station Road, East Grinstead, to tell them what had happened.

It is believed the thief had pressed the emergency stop button. He jumped into the car and sped off with two-year-old Connor asleep in the back.

Mr and Mrs Smythe were reunited with Connor on Monday at Battersea Dogs Home after an inspector heard Mrs Smythe on the radio and realised it was the same dog.

The car wash theft was believed to be the first of its kind. The man seen taking the car last Thursday.

He is described as tall, pale-faced and wearing a baseball cap.