ST ALBANS: A puppy sparked a rescue operation by firefighters when it disappeared while out on a walk last week.

The young black Labrador called Ruby was walking with her owner in a field off House Lane in Sandridge last Tuesday afternoon when the incident happened.

Ruby vanished when her owner momentarily turned around and it was feared that the inquisitive young pup had gone down a drainage tunnel within the field.

The owner called firefighters who quickly arrived on the scene and spent an hour trying to locate Ruby along the diagonal pipe with equipment including a thermal imaging camera without success.

But in the meantime, the owner’s friend called around the local vets and one of them informed her that a puppy fitting Ruby’s description had been handed in to them.

It appeared that Ruby had made her own way out of the drainage tunnel and it’s thought that she was later reunited with her owner.