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A chief constable rescued a dog she saw "panting and suffering" in a car as she stopped at a supermarket on her way home from work.

Pippa Mills said she discovered an elderly springer spaniel in the car outside a supermarket on Tuesday.

A window was slightly open, but fortunately the car was unlocked and she retrieved the animal, the West Mercia police boss said.

A "stern word" was had with the owner who appeared 20 minutes later.

"Obviously I'm a police officer, but I'd expect anyone would have wanted to do something in those circumstances," she said.

She went into the Lidl store on Blackpole Road in Worcester, to try and find the owner but the store did not have a tannoy system, she said. She added she was prepared to break the windows on the car.

"But just, a final check and found it was left unlocked so I was able to just open the car door and get the dog out and take it to the cool lobby of the supermarket."

She said while she waited, the owner came out of the supermarket.

"Obviously [I] had a stern word with her in terms of the condition she'd left the dog in," she said.

Ms Mills said the owner did not really realise the severity of what she had done to the spaniel and said she had also just taken the dog for a walk.

The force works with the RSPCA and the Dog's Trust to alert people about the dangers of leaving pets in vehicles on hot days and people should call 999 if they find an animal in that situation, she said.

"It's simple cruelty to leave a hot dog in a hot car," she added.

RSPCA advice is to never leave dogs in hot cars, conservatories, outbuildings or caravans on a warm day (even if only for a short while).

When it's 22°C outside, temperatures can quickly rise to 47°C (117°F) in these environments, which can be fatal.

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