Rescued Alsatian killed by train

The dogs panicked after being carried from the ledge

A coastguard operation to rescue two dogs that fell from a cliff has ended with one of the animals breaking free and being killed by a train.

Rescuers were called to Lunan Bay, near Montrose, after a fisherman saw the dogs stuck on a ledge 40ft down.

After being brought back to the cliff top, the collie and Alsatian became distressed.

The Alsatian broke free from her rescuers before being hit and killed by the passing train.

A Scottish SPCA inspector at the scene said the owner of the dogs was a local woman who lost them when they ran away while she was walking them early on Friday morning.

She has been reunited with the collie, but is said to be upset at what happened to her Alsatian.

A spokesman for Forth Coastguard, which was co-ordinating the rescue, said the Alsatian and collie had dropped 40ft onto a ledge at Rickle Craig.