A PEDIGREE pooch who went missing from his new home two weeks ago shocked everyone when he was found wandering along the M61 near Chorley.

Tyson, a Sharpei worth £800, vanished from his home in Chorley New Road, Horwich, only two days after moving there from Johnson Fold with his owners, the McQuiggan family.

As the days passed and there was no sign of Tyson, mother-of-two Susan McQuiggan became convinced they would never see the eight-year-old dog again.

But just when she, her husband, 15-year-old son Barry and daughter Sally, aged 12, were about to give up hope of seeing Tyson again, they received a call to say he had been found safe and well on the motorway.

Tyson, who was named after boxer Mike Tyson because of his thick neck, had been rescued by police after they saw him making his way along the M61 towards Chorley.

The dog's name tag had disappeared on his seven-mile trek, but after police took him to the Station House boarding kennels, near Chorley, he was recognised by a member of staff who had spotted a missing dog advert for him in the BEN.

Mrs McQuiggan, who also has a 13-year-old Boxer called Sonya, believes Tyson managed to squeeze under the gate of their front garden and may then have been kidnapped. She said: "He's quite a timid dog and we've no idea how he managed to get all the way to Leyland without being hit by a car.

"I think someone might have taken him and then dumped him on the motorway. Tyson hates the rain and the weather was so wet last week we were all worried sick.

"When we went to collect him he jumped up and wagged his tail and, even though he had lost weight, he looked really happy to see us.

"I am definitely going to make the gate more secure so there is no way he can escape again."