A woman dodged death by inches when her dogs pulled her clear of a chunk of stonework as it plummeted 60ft from a Victorian railway viaduct.

Alison Plaumer was walking under the London Road viaduct in Brighton when a fist-sized piece of masonry fell, narrowly missing her and her two dogs.

She said she owed her life to the instinctive reactions of black mongrels Max and Zara, who made her duck out of the way by pulling her forward a split second before the stone crashed to the ground.

Ms Plaumer, 46, was badly shaken by the incident and said she felt lucky to be alive.

Network Rail admitted it knew there had been a problem with some of the decorative brickwork two weeks ago but said it had been taking action to try to prevent such an accident.

A spokeswoman said although the viaduct's brick structure was sound, decorative masonry was badly worn but could not be removed because the building was listed.

Ms Plaumer, a lecturer from Preston Park, said: "I'm still alive but if it had landed on me, it would have killed me. My dogs were with me and they were shocked too. I think they probably saved me.

"They were on the lead and they must have heard something because they pulled me forward suddenly, just in time.

"The stone was about the size of my fist and landed 2ft from me. Two people were around at the time and one guy said to me, 'My God, you're a lucky lady'.

"I left the masonry there because I was just so shocked and glad to be alive. I just wanted to get home."

Straight after the incident at 11am, she contacted Network Rail, the successor to the much-criticised Railtrack.

She said: "They were very concerned and the community relations officer from Waterloo wanted to send someone round.

"But I just wanted to talk to some friends."

The viaduct was completed in March 1846 and has 27 arches containing ten million bricks.

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokeswoman said she was assured by Network Rail it was safe to pass under the viaduct.

She said the rail company had told the council it had organised emergency repairs.

British Transport Police confirmed officers had been alerted to the incident and Network Rail was investigating.

Donna Casey, media relations manager for Network Rail, said: "London Road viaduct is constructed of brickwork, which is in very good condition.

"However some of the ageing decorative stone features have been causing concern following a recent inspection.

"We met the local authority two weeks ago when we told it of our short-term plans to ensure public safety is maintained.

"This includes installing scaffolding and decking over an area of the viaduct that runs over private industrial land and we have already installed netting over spans of the structure that are known to be problematic.

"The viaduct is a Grade II listed structure and it is not possible for Network Rail to remove the decorative features, therefore we are working with the local authority to discuss future plans.

"Following today's incident, Network Rail attended the site immediately and an emergency assessment and necessary repair works will be carried out as a matter of priority."

She said the company would contact Ms Plaumer.