A Yorkshire Terrier which vanished three-and-a-half years ago has been reunited with his "shocked" family.

In July 2015, Bambi disappeared in the Sunny Hill Park area near Hendon, and although his owners never gave up hope, they did give up the search.

But this month, Justnya Fisher took a call from Medivet Hendon where she was told her beloved Terrier had been handed in.

Ms Fisher said: “We are still in total shock and really just can’t believe it. We are so grateful to the whole the team at Medivet Hendon for taking him in, scanning him and reuniting us. We are incredibly thrilled to have our dog back, although his mate Zuza is finding the adjustment a bit more of a challenge.

“Obviously, after losing Bambi, the whole family was very upset, but his mate Zuza became depressed. Because he is an adventurous little dog we had him microchipped, so never really gave up hope. We are not sure what happened to Bambi over those three years, but are just so happy to have him back and get him back to full health.”

The family were reunited with the little Yorkie within an hour of the call and now want to tell other pet owners who have lost their animals not to give up hope.

Jerry Dunne, branch partner at Medivet Hendon, added: “One of the most privileged aspects of being a vet is being able to witness that incredible moment when owners are reunited with their lost pets. This is only possible, of course, if the animals are microchipped in the first place and members of the public actually take the time and effort to hand in ‘stray’ animals to a vet.”