A PET owner has blasted dognappers as disgusting' after paying a £500 ransom to get her pet pooches back.

Rachel Smith was gutted after her prized Lakeland Terriers Griz and Manic were snatched and bundled into the back of a white van last Tuesday while her partner was working at Halton Mills.

Rachel and her family spent days hunting for the dogs but on Friday a man phoned her and said he had the hounds.

"I got a call from a man who said he had seen one of my appeal posters and I could have my dogs back for £500," says Rachel.

"He warned me not to tell the police and I was so scared I decided to go along with it and meet him."

Rachel, who lives in Kendal, was directed to a deserted car park in Lancaster where she met a man in a van - with her two prized dogs.

"I can't put into words how disgusted I am with the men who did this but at the end of the day I just wanted my dogs back," she says.

DS Sean Carthy, of Lancaster CID, says he has not come across anything like this before.

He told the Citizen: "It is a bizarre incident and disgusting that someone will play on someone's love of their pets.

"I am a pet owner and it makes you wonder if you would pay to get your dog back I think most people probably would.

"That makes the actions of this man all the more disgusting. I can confirm that a cash ransom was paid and we have traced several telephone calls but they are all to telephone kiosks.

"The man was driving a white Ford Transit-style van and is in his 40s. We are continuing with our enquiries into this matter."