Rottweiler Jazz was reduced to a quivering wreck when she bounded down a steep embankment then lost her nerve and couldn't be coaxed back to saftey.

The drama unfolded near the clifftop beside Mango's bar, in Coast Road, South Shields, at about 1pm today.

The one and a half year old rottweiler's owner panicked when her dog wouldn't come back to her, seemingly because she was terrified of heights.

One witness said the dog was "scared stiff" when she realised she was stuck on an embankment leading down to the cliffs, so 999 crews had to be sent to the scene to calm the animal and figure out a way to steer her to safety.

Firefighters, police, an ambulance crew and the coastguard joined forces to coax the dog back up the hill as it teetered on the cliff edge 30ft above the beach.

Dave Farrow, Watch manager at South Shields fire station, said: "Our crew manager Lee James scaled the slope from the bottom to get behind the dog, then pushed it back to the top.

"One of the owners had tried to rescue the animal himself before we were called, but realised he couldn't get himself and the dog back up the slope, so abandonded his rescue attempt and called the emergency services."

Witness Richard Simpson, 59, from Witton Avenue, Marsden, South Shields, said: "The woman owner was getting quite hysterical when she realised the dog wouldn't come back up.

"She was shouting for help, but there was no way the dog could move, so she called the fire brigade.

"One of the firefighters climbed to the dog and slowly pushed it back up to safety."