A terrier was found stuck between bars of metal fence in a Bexleyheath park.

Poppy, a Jack Russell, was found stuck in the metal fence in Danson Park, Bexleyheath, on Thursday lunchtime by a member of the public.

Initially, it was thought the pooch was a stray and the RSPCA were called to help free the stricken canine.

Animal collection officer Kirstie Gillard rushed to help little Poppy along with Kent Fire & Rescue Service.

She said: “The terrier had got herself well and truly wedged between the railings.

“She must have been running at some speed as her head and her two front legs were both through the gap with her body wedged between the two metal railings around her tummy.

“I don’t know how she did it, there was no give in those bars.

“She was quite nervous and probably very uncomfortable so we set to work right away carefully trying to free her.

“I’d like to say a big thank you to Kent Fire & Rescue Service for helping us release Poppy.”

KFRS stretched the bars to release poor Poppy before pushing them back into their original shape.

She was taken to a vet for a check-up and they discovered that Poppy had escaped from the garden of her home half a mile away.

The five-year-old terrier’s owner, Julia Clifford, was relieved to have her pet back: “It was actually a Godsend that she got stuck in that fence because it could well have saved her life.

“I was so relieved that she was home, safe and sound, and hadn’t run into the road or been hit by a car.”

The cheeky mutt had escaped from the garden after builders working on an extension removed the fence panels and replaced them with a makeshift barrier which she managed to squeeze through.