LIFEBOAT volunteers have spoken about their astonishment after a dog fell more than 100 feet from a cliff but survived.

The border collie, called Max, somehow survived after falling off the cliff by Seaford into the water yesterday.

A team from Newhaven Coastguard Search and Rescue were on the beach at Splash Point, but were unable to reach Max due to the high tide separating them from the beach he was on.

As a result, Newhaven RNLI were called and came to Hawk’s Brow just east of splash point near Seaford, where Max had swum in to a small stretch of beach.

Three crew members boarded a smaller Y-class life boat off their larger all-weather boat to retrieve Max, while the tide was falling.

James Johnson, volunteer navigator, said: “Given the dog had fallen over 100 feet to the beach, it was astonishing to see him apparently unharmed. Max was incredibly lucky and we were relieved to return him to his owner.”

The RNLI says the incident is another reminder of “doing the right thing” as a dog owner by calling the coastguard.

The Argus: Max was saved off the beach yesterday - picture from Newhaven RNLIMax was saved off the beach yesterday - picture from Newhaven RNLI

Lewis Arnold, coxswain, said: “The dog owner did the right thing. Getting yourself back to a place of safety and calling the Coastguard to get help is always preferable than trying to go after your pet yourself.

“Please remember to keep your dog on a lead close to cliff edges or fast flowing rivers, you never know when they’ll suddenly decide to make chase after a rabbit or bird.”

The rescue was the first for volunteer Chloe Sands who applied for Newhaven Lifeboat in 2021. She passed the relevant training modules and recently received her RNLI pager.

Chloe said: “It was a bit of shock when the pager went off, but a relief also to be on my way to a first shout. When we reached the location, I helped prepare the Y-class Lifeboat for launch from the all-weather lifeboat.”

Have you got a story for us? Email news@theargus.co.uk or contact us here.

Follow us on FacebookTwitter and Instagram to keep up with all the latest news.

Sign up to our newsletter to get updates sent straight to your inbox.

You can also call us on 01273 021 400.