TK the terrier had a miracle escape when he survived a 400ft fall from Beachy Head.

The six-year-old Jack Russell was enjoying a run on the top of Beachy Head, near Eastbourne, yesterday when he shot over the top.

His shocked owner telephoned the coastguard but feared the worst for his pet.

Eastbourne's inshore lifeboat was launched to search the foot of the cliffs, where the crew expected to find TK's remains. Instead they found him hiding in a cove, soaked and shivering but unharmed.

It is thought the brown and white dog landed feet-first on the beach and bounced into the water.

TK - short for Three Kisses - was taken to nearby Birling Gap to be reunited with owners Ian Ilett, of Hackney, London, and his fiance, Paula Allen.

A coastguard spokesman said: "It's incredible that he survived a fall of 400ft. Every so often you hear of a story like this but on this occasion the dog didn't even have scratch on him.

"Nobody expected the animal to still be alive -we were amazed when he turned up safe and sound."

The incident is the third in two years involving dogs at Beachy Head. Last year a trapped collie was rescued from the cliff and in June 1998 a two-year-old collie cross, survived a 200ft fall.