CHARITY fundraiser Andrew Hughes believes devoted pet dog Flight saved his life after he stumbled down steep woodlands steps while walking in Toadsmoor Woods, fracturing his knee and cracking his kneecap.

Unable to walk, Mr Hughes lay on the ground in excruciating pain for hours in the freezing November gales and, as night began to fall, he feared he would die from hypothermia.

But the heroic hound, a seven-year-old whippet/collie cross belonging to his lodger Darren Appley, raised the alarm, attracting the attention of builders who were working on a home extension a mile away.

The agonising ordeal, which began at 1pm last Wednesday, finally ended two hours later when Mr Hughes, 44, of Ridgemont Road, Stroud, was transported by air ambulance to The Great Western Hospital in Swindon.

"I was shouting and shouting and no-one was coming, so I really started to panic," said Mr Hughes, who works in the bakery at Stroud's Tesco supermarket and is well-known for his fundraising stunts, which include sitting in baths of baked beans for BBC Children in Need.

"I could hear a grinding sound in the distance. I didn't know it at the time but there were builders there," he said.

"I let the dog off the lead and said, 'go and get help!'. But because he's such a loyal dog, he wouldn't budge.

"He knew something was wrong and he started barking. I kept shouting for about an hour, until I was hoarse.

"Then all of a sudden I heard this guy shouting 'where are you mate?"

Incredibly, the four builders had heard the shouting and barking over the sound of their angle grinder and stopped work to investigate.

Within minutes an ambulance crew had arrived, but because of the steep bank Mr Hughes, who lives in Stroud, had to be transported to hospital by the Wiltshire Air Ambulance service.

Meanwhile, the builders called Flight's owner who came to collect him.

Mr Hughes believes he owes his life to the builders and to Flight.

"I don't know what he must have thought when he saw me disappear in the air ambulance," he said.

"When I got home he went mad - it was like he hadn't seen me for a year.

"He's going to be getting a really nice present from me for Christmas."