THE OWNERS of a lost dog who was found safe and well have thanked the community for coming together saying they were "blown away" by the efforts of complete strangers who came out in force to help them.

Jonathan Harrold and Stephen Mortom-Prior's dog Lola was spooked and bolted out of her collar on a visit to a pet store in Halesowen at around 3pm on Friday (July 26) .

The couple had only moved from Wales to their new home in Halesowen the day before and were desperate to find their three-year-old dog.

They put out pleas to find her across social media and were stunned by the massive response - with scores of people out looking for Lola and sharing and updating posts across Facebook.

Thanks to a real community effort Lola was found in Smith Close, Smethwick on Saturday (July 27) and is back home none the worse for her ordeal.

Jonathan, who is a clinical psychologist and Stephen, who is director at Clearwater Events, said they wanted to thank the Halesowen and Bearwood/Smethwick community.

Jonathan said: "We are extremely fortunate as we found our dog in Smethwick of all places safe and sound, if not very dirty and shaken!

"She is absolutely fine and is back to her usual self, enjoying playing catch!

"This was a social media success story, and without social media, I genuinely believe we would not have seen her again.

"Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to those who shared posts, kept us updated with sightings, and to the many strangers who gave up their time to come out in the pouring rain on Saturday to help look for her.

"The amount of people physically out looking for her and updating and sharing on social media was incredible - we were blown away. It was a real community effort.

"People were brilliant!

"It's one way to make an entrance and get to know all your new neighbours!"