TWO working dogs have been found in woodland after they were stolen from their home in a Hampshire village.

Bramble, an 11-year-old Springer Spaniel, and Tilly, a nine-year-old black Labrador, were reported missing from a home in Sherborne St John on Wednesday, September 30.

It is thought they were taken sometime between 8pm and 10pm that day.

They were found just after midday today by a walker in woodland near The Vyne National Trust property.

Chloe Murray, 21, said she was "absolutely delighted" to bring her dogs home.

She said: "When I got the call that they had been found I ran out of work and went to pick them up.

"They are absolutely fine and no damage done."

She said her father had gone out to feed the two gun dogs at 10pm on Wednesday, only to find the kennel doors open, with the dogs gone and padlocks on the ground.

One of the dogs, Tilly, recently had surgery on cysts that vets believe could be cancerous.

The dogs, used to retrieve dead birds on game shoots, had been with the family their whole lives, and Bramble is the daughter of one of the family's previous dogs.

Miss Murray reported the theft to the police, and posted pictures of her dogs on social media, which she said were shared thousands of times.

She told The Daily Echo: "The person who found them knew who they were straight away because they had seen them on Facebook."

Share article Miss Murray said officers told them there had been a recent spate of gun dog thefts in the area. She added that villagers had reported cold callers in the week before the theft.

Anyone with information on the theft is asked to contact police on 101, quoting crime reference number 44150339949.