A pet dog had a lucky break when he plunged 140ft from a cliff top and survived with just an injured leg.

The owner of Henry the retriever-cross watched helplessly as he ran off the cliff chasing a seagull.

Artist Louise Chavannes, 42, was convinced her five-year-old pet was dead and struggled down hundreds of steps and along half a mile of beach to reach him.

When she reached the foot of the Seven Sisters cliffs, near Beachy Head, Eastbourne, she was amazed to find him swimming in the sea.

Ms Chavannes said: "I couldn't bear the thought of his body floating in the sea and I was convinced he was dead.

"But when I got to the point where he had jumped I saw his body moving and he was swimming to the shore. I just could not believe it."

Plucky Henry had leapt so far from the cliff top in his pursuit of the seagull, he only smashed his leg on a protruding part of the rock face. His fall was broken by the sea.

The retriever-spaniel was taken to nearby High Croft Veterinary Group in Hailsham, where principal vet Peter Stotesbury sedated Henry, who was bleeding.

Mr Stotesbury, 39, said: "He is the luckiest dog we have ever come across. No one could believe he had survived a fall from that height and undoubtedly it was the water that saved him.

"But it is still a miracle he got away with such minor injuries."

During a two-hour operation, a metal plate and artificial tendons were put in Henry's front right leg. He is due for weekly check- ups for at least a month.

Mother-of-two Ms Chavannes, who lives in Heathfield, said: "We're all so glad he is okay but it is like having a baby in the house again.

"We are nursing his leg around the clock and he loves the attention."