A man from Padiham has recalled the heart-in-mouth moment he spotted his runaway dog in the middle of the busy M65.

Stephen Hunt’s one-year-old German Shepherd, Yoda, escaped from his home on June 2.

The pup found his way into the middle of the M65, near Hapton, where he is thought to have been stuck for around 18 hours. 

Stephen Hunt and YodaStephen Hunt and Yoda (Image: Stephen Hunt)

Stephen said: “Someone in the house left the side gate open at home.

"I was doing some work in the house at the time and the family was distracted.

“Around 20 minutes later I started preparing food and wondered where he was.

“I panicked and started looking around for him on the streets. Then I started to put out Facebook statuses in an appeal for information.”

Over the next day, Stephen received calls from the public saying that they had spotted a dog in the central reservation of the M65.

Yoda with friend Xena, who helped find him when he was lostYoda with friend Xena, who helped find him when he was lost (Image: Stephen Hunt)

Despite driving up the stretch of road, Stephen struggled to find Yoda.

He said: “Several people phoned in and said that they had seen a dog on the motorway.

“I went down in my car looking up and down the motorway but couldn’t see him.”

It was only thanks to Yoda’s four-legged friend, Xena, that he was found.

Yoda in the middle of the M65Yoda in the middle of the M65 (Image: Stephen Hunt)

Stephen said: “My friend and his dog Xena, who knows Yoda, went on a walk from Rosegrove and over several bridges. Xena then sat down.

“My friend had a look over the bridge where she sat down and that is where he was.”

Stephen said he immediately went to the spot where Yoda was found and “felt pure panic” to see him stranded in the middle of busy traffic.

YodaYoda (Image: Stephen Hunt)

Emergency services closed the section of M65 so Yoda could be rescued.

Stephen said: “I felt pure panic. I felt so hopeless because there was nothing I could do.

“When I first saw him it looked like he was ready to run into the fast lane until a car scared him back into the middle.

“When the traffic stopped, Yoda found a spot to cross and ran up the embankment. He jumped over a woman’s fence and we found him in her garden.”

Yoda is now back at home and is on painkillers for his damaged paws.

Stephen added: “Since coming home he has spent a lot of time in bed. He’s been so tired.

“He’s been on painkillers for the last few days because his paws are injured.

“I am glad it is all over. The whole family was in bits when he was missing and it was so quiet in the house.

“Most dogs who end up on the motorway don’t make it back off so I am glad Yoda is back.”

A Lancashire Police spokesperson said: “We were called to reports of a dog on the M65 on June 3 at 12.03pm.

"We closed a section of the motorway until the dog was recovered safe and well.”