TWO Hampshire fire rescue dogs are hanging up their boots after 126 dog year's loyal service.

Saxon and Inca have helped put dozens of criminals behind bars as investigative dogs with Hampshire Fire and Rescue.

The Labradors have worked on more than 500 incidents across the county using their sniffer skills to find the source of a fire and help track down criminals.

But now they are both retiring after 11-year-old Saxon served for 10 years and his younger sister Inca, 10, served eight years.

Their handler, fire investigator Graham Howlett said: "It's a pleasure to work with such talented lovely-natured dogs and I'm so proud of what they have achieved.

“We have done jobs where the evidence they have found has been instrumental in getting a conviction. It's always nice to know that criminals wouldn't have been brought to justice without our work."

Graham trained the pair in his spare time and will now be looking after them both at home during their retirement.

He added: "Dogs noses are the ideal sensor, they are so reliable and accurate it cuts down the amount of samples that need to be taken and sent away for expensive forensic analysis.”

The sibling due were based at Hampshire Fire and Rescue headquarters in Eastleigh and one of their most famous success stories was five years ago, when petrol had been poured through a letterbox and set alight.

As the fire took hold of the property, two adults and four young children escaped through a window.

Daily Echo:

Both Saxon and Inca were deployed as part of a fire investigation team and they detected ignitable liquid at the scene which led to the successful conviction of David Regan who was found guilty and jailed for endangering life.

It takes a fire investigator more than four hours to search an area using specialist equipment but Saxon and Inca were able to search an area in 10 minutes.

Fellow fire dog handler, Andy Earl added: “Saxon and Inca have served a total of 126 dog years. We'd like to wish them a long, happy and well deserved retirement.”

Detective spaniels Millie and Ruby, and Border Collie Harvey will now be carrying on Saxon and Inca's hard work.