A DOG found himself at the centre of a major rescue operation after getting himself stuck under a huge pile of trees.

Parsons Jack Russell cross Bernie had to be rescued from underneath a pile of around 60 logs, but managed to emerge unscathed.

Anna Raynsford, 41, of Dibden told how she, her mother Janet Given, 65, of Dibden and a friend had been walking near the HawkHill Enclosure car park between Beaulieu and Brockenhurst with their dogs.

She described how Janet’s dog Bernie had been trying to get into the log pile to track something down, but after they walked on he did not emerge.

Anna went to investigate and discovered that Bernie had gone in slipped off a log into a small cavity in the pile and was on the ground at the centre of the pyramid shaped pile.

Due to a problem with his spine that affects the mobility of his legs, the seven-year-old was then unable to get himself back out.

At a loss what to do they called for help just before 1pm today.

An animal rescue specialist from Lyndhurst and workers from the Forestry Commission attended.

They had to painstakingly remove logs one by one with a tractor as they weighed up to 500 kilograms each.

They faced problems because when they moved one log it destabilised others around it and they feared the dog could be crushed.

So the fire service used specialist equipment including chocks, normally used to stop cars from moving, to keep the other logs still.

Animal rescue specialist Adrian Knight said: “He was okay on my arrival, but once the tractor started moving logs he was getting very anxious so we just kept talking to him and reassuring him.

“It is unusual though I wasn’t surprising knowing the breed of dog, but it wasn’t something that you see every day.”

Anna said the firefighters and Forestry Commission staff had been “brilliant”.

“He was so deep that the risk of them moving once one was dislodged was high – they were just meticulous,” she added.

“They did a great job and he was utterly unscathed.

“As soon as we got him out we had to put him on a lead because he wanted to go straight back in the log pile – I thought he’d learnt his lesson.”