A woman feared she would never see her Jack Russell terrier again after a dog warden failed to find a microchip and took him to a kennel.

Lorraine Lewis, 53, was distraught when 15-year-old Nipper disappeared from her Essella Road, Ashford, home but was confident they would be reunited as he had been microchipped.

But after 12 hours she appealed on Facebook and was told he had been picked up by the dog warden.

Mrs Lewis said: “A neighbour got in touch to say Nipper had been taken to Haven Boarding Kennels and Cattery.

“We had to wait until the following morning because it was closed and when we arrived they told us the council’s dog warden had told them Nipper wasn’t microchipped.

“I assumed the chip had moved or something but when the person at the kennel put the scanner across him the information came up straight away.

“If that neighbour hadn’t seen my daughter’s status on Facebook we would have probably never got Nipper back.

“What annoyed me even more was that when the Kentish Express came out later that week there was an appeal in it from Ashford Council telling people to make sure their dogs were microchipped.”

Nipper went missing at 9am last Tuesday, was picked up about two hours later and finally handed back to his family the following morning.

“If that neighbour hadn’t seen my daughter’s status on Facebook we would have probably never got Nipper back." - dog owner Lorraine Lewis

She added: “I accept it’s my fault he got out of the house and he wasn’t wearing a collar so I was happy to pay the small fine to the council.”

Ashford Council spokeswoman Sinead Hanna said: “We are sorry our dog warden was unable to pick up the microchip details when scanning this animal.

“Microchips sometimes move and can be harder to detect, and it is an issue experienced by partner agencies. We now double scan all stray dogs found, with the dog warden and then with the kennels on arrival.

“Our website has a direct phone number for reporting lost dogs, as well as an out of hours number. It is possible this customer called when all relevant staff were on call-outs, and we apologise for any frustration caused.

“We also have an online form for reporting missing dogs on the rare occasions when customers cannot get through by phone.”

Report a stray, found or lost dog to Ashford Council on 01233 330340 or go to www.ashford.gov.uk/dog-warden-service