Hamish the dog was unimpressed when his owner left him at a friend's house while she took a holiday - so he set off on a nine-hour trek to his old home.

The eight-year-old Scottie-cross was being looked after by Maria Christoforou at her home in the Preston Park area of Brighton while owner Paula Church was away.

Along with Maria's three dogs - two pugs and a boxer - he was given the run of the back garden.

But, under the cover of darkness, Hamish made a break for it while Maria was out of the house. She returned at 11.30pm to find he was gone.

Maria drafted in friends for a midnight hunt of Preston Park and the surrounding area.

Meanwhile, Hamish was heading in the opposite direction towards Glen Rise, Brighton, his home until three weeks earlier, when Paula moved to Walsingham Road.

She said: "Maria had about six people hunting Preston Park with torches.

"They even bumped into some police officers who were looking for a robber. They said, 'Give us a ring if you see our robber and we will call you if we find your dog'."

Across the city Hamish had jumped into a car belonging to a Glen Rise resident who was taking his wife to hospital. He dropped Hamish off at the police station in John Street.

Officers contacted Maria at 5.30am on the Sunday morning to break the news that Hamish was safe and she went straight to the police station to collect him.

She said: "Hamish had a collar on with Paula's number on it but I had asked them not to call her because she was on holiday and I hadn't told her what had happened. When I got there the officers were looking through an encyclopaedia trying to work out what sort of dog he was. I was so pleased to see him."

Paula heard about the dog-sitting trauma when she returned from holiday.

She said: "I can't believe he went off for nine hours, crossed the London Road, went up past the football stadium and up Valley Drive. He's never been up there before. Poor Maria was so worried."