A dog has been reunited with its owner after it was stolen over two years ago near Sennybridge.

Trisha Joseph from Defynnog finally had her beloved Springer Spaniel Belle back on Friday, December 21 following two years and five days of searching and online campaigning.

The 45-year-old had joined over 500 groups on the social media site Facebook to share pictures of Belle and the story around her disappearance in the hope that somebody would recognise her.

Ms Joseph said: “It’s not so much that we were expecting to get her back, but we were hoping that we would.

“You do hear stories of dogs being reunited with their owners years after they’ve gone missing.”

The working gun dog was stolen after thieves forced their way into the barn where Belle was kept while her owners were away on December 15, 2016.

At the same time Ms Joseph’s Patterdale Terrier called Holly was stolen, however she was located 90 miles away in Bromsgrove and retrieved two days later.

Ms Joseph had been determined to retrieve Belle causing her to go on the epic online hunt.

She said: “I’m on about 500 different groups where I shared about Belle.

“I did actually get banned from Facebook for sharing too much, there were times it was only 24 hours or as much as a week.

“Belle got her own Facebook page, sites, groups and I even took out another profile for her as well as using my partner’s.”

Other Facebook users spotted the valuable six-year-old springer while Ms Joseph was ill in bed.

Belle had been located 70 miles away in Worcestershire – she was for sale from 18-year-old Jimmy Taylor who had bought her six months earlier. On the Thursday night, he had put her up for sale and I had been ill in bed at the time”.

Ms Jospeh said: “On the Friday morning, my phone was full of messages and emails and I had missed calls to say there was this guy selling her.

“I messaged him and he got back to me in a couple of minutes. He not only messaged, but actually called me.

“He didn’t know anything about her being stolen, and he was absolutely devastated when he found out.

“He was so apologetic over the phone, but I just told him that I was so happy he had her because other wise we may not have found her.”

Mr Taylor left work early and returned Belle to her owners that day – a scan of the springer’s microchip using Ms Joseph’s scanner confirmed her identity.

Ms Joseph said it was as if Belle has never been away as she was happily wandering around the house and went out to work with her partner Wyn Price.

Ms Joseph also said she was in shock at the response to the online search since Belle has been found and returned.

She said: “I’m totally relieved and overwhelmed – I can’t believe how much its been covered. It’s just crazy, I find it really hard to describe it.”