FIRE service control staff made their own rescue following a crash on a major road.

Two dogs escaped from an overturned car following a road traffic collision on the A12 last night near Rivenhall End.

Fire crews from Witham and Tiptree fire stations were in attendance and a casualty was left in the care of the ambulance service.

The dogs ran towards the Essex County Fire and Rescue headquarters in Kelvedon Park, London Road, at about 9.40pm.

White Watch control staff managed to catch one of the dogs as it was running in the car park, however the second dog got away.

Control staff answer 999 calls and organise resources across the county to make sure the right response gets to people in an emergency.

They are not usually the ones to carry out rescues themselves, so they said being able to help “made their night”.

They took the dog inside and kept it safe until someone was able to collect it.

The second dog is a medium-sized white dog and it is believed he was seen at around 3.30am today in Kelvedon.

The fire service is asking the public to keep an eye out for the dog and get in contact if it is spotted.

Watch manager Emma Polley said: "It was such a coincidence that the road traffic collision happened so close to our control room and that the dog made its way over.

"We're a team of dog lovers so to be able to help and keep him safe until his owner was able to collect him really made our night.

"Unfortunately there was a second dog who got loose. We did see him running around our car park at about 2.30am this morning but he was too fast for us and ran away again.

"We urge anyone in the area to keep an eye out - he's a medium size white dog and we think someone may have seen him at around 3.30am this morning in Kelvedon village."