AFTER two weeks of searching for their beloved dog feared lost down a rabbit hole owners Stephen and Kathy Arnott had given up hope of seeing their puppy again.

But Simba the Cavapoo miraculously returned to their home in Aldbourne, near Marlborough on Monday.

The dog’s owners had searched for Simba with help of the fire service, underground cameras, a blood hound and even a psychic but without any success and were convinced it had died.

Mr Arnott said: “I’d even bought a plaque saying ‘RIP Simba’ so when he suddenly reappeared we could not believe it - we were overjoyed.”

Simba had disappeared while walking in a field littered with rabbit holes. Mr Arnott told the BBC:: “There are so many rabbit holes, we didn’t know which hole he could have gone in,” he said.”We looked in every hole, it was torture not knowing exactly which hole he must have fallen down.”

After four days of searching athe couple asked a a psychic to help.

Mr Arnott said: “She originally sent us on a bit of a wild goose chase but eventually, she said he’s stuck down a hole within 120 steps of the front door.”

Cameras were put down every hole, terriers and a bloodhound were called in and the fire service spent a day searching rabbit holes.

Mr Arnott said: “We’d given up, he was only a baby, we really didn’t think he’d be able to survive down a hole for so long.”

“I sealed up holes dug in the search thinking I was burying our little dog,”

But the following morning a very thin and weak Samba suddenly reappeared at the house.

“We could not believe it, it was truly a miracle. He was dishevelled and dirty and he’d lost nearly half of his body weight.”

“He’d obviously lost so much weight he could wiggle out of the hole’.” Vet Lynne Gaskarth from Drove Veterinary Hospital said it was incredible that Simba survived so long underground.