A mum has spoken of her sadness after the family dog 'vanished without a trace' along the west Dorset coast, leaving her children devastated.

Amber Whiting was walking between the Golden Cap and Eype with husband Wayne, when their 18-month-old Shar Pei slipped out of a harness and ran off just to the west of Thorncombe Beacon.

It's not been seen since - and police believe it may have been stolen.

Amber said: "There is no sign of him - he has just vanished into thin air. To say we have carried out thorough searches is an understatement; we were out for three days, for about eight hours each time, searching for him. I've been all along the rocks, thinking if he'd gone over the edge of the cliffs I'd find a body, but we've found nothing. The public has been so amazing and loads of people have helped us search - a man with a drone came from Weymouth three times to help us search. We've been amazed by how kind everyone has been but it's bizarre that nothing has been found despite so many people looking."

Friends, family members and passers-by have helped search the cliffs and appeals have been launched on social media - but to no avail.

West Bay Coastguard Rescue Team was called to assist in the search.

After speaking to Amber and Wayne, coastguards searched high risk areas to ensure that members of the public were not putting themselves in danger whilst searching for Shadow.

The team checked the cliffs, and an officer attached to ropes was also put onto the cliff edge to have a good binocular search of the mid and lower cliff levels.

Unfortunately, no sightings of Shadow were made and once searches were complete, the team was stood down.

Amber said: "Police think he might have been stolen. He's chipped, neutered, he can't see or hear very well so he's no good to anyone - we just want him back. I have three boys with special needs and this is very hard for them. They are really struggling, it's awful."

If you have any information about Shadow, contact Amber on 07854 086442.

If Shadow is found to be in a place of difficulty, do not attempt rescue, instead call 999 and ask for the coastguard.