A woman saved a dog from causing a major crash on a busy dual carriageway near Great Yarmouth.

Dee O'Callaghan, 31, from Cromer, was being driven by her friend on the A47 on Sunday (February 13) when she noticed a dog running down the road.

With traffic in front of her slowing, she immediately told her friend to stop the car and jumped out.

She said: "Luckily the traffic was quite slow and we weren't driving at a great speed.

"Had a driver or a motorcyclist had to slam the brakes on to avoid hitting the dog, it could have caused a crash and multiple injuries.

"I wasn't worried for my own safety. I had to act."

Miss O'Callaghan said the dog, which is believed to be an English Springer Spaniel, looked "distressed" and was "running around erratically".

What came next was a "real team effort", according to Miss O'Callaghan.

She said: "There was probably around five or six of us that got out of our vehicles to help catch the dog.

"But between 12-15 cars helped us do that by putting their hazards on and slowing right down. It was a real team effort."

Miss O'Callaghan added that if the dog had got across to the other side of the carriageway where other cars were still speeding, it could have caused a "major crash".

She said: "I'm a massive animal lover but it wasn't just about the dog.

"Had she got across to the other side of the road, people could have been seriously hurt or killed."

After checking the dog, Miss O'Callaghan said the pet was in a poor state of appearance so had no choice but to take her to the vets.

She said: "She was really dirty and smelt quite bad. All I wanted to do was take her home and give her a bath.

"We took her straight to The Veterinary Hospital in Gorleston to get checked over."

And for Miss O'Callaghan, saving the dog felt personal because she had recently lost a pet herself.

She said: "One of my cats died in October so to do it felt right.

"I know the pain of losing a pet and had I been told that my dog had escaped and had been hit by a car, I would have been devastated."

The dog's owners have not been found yet.