A GREENOCK man had to climb down an uncovered manhole to rescue his dog after it fell into the dangerous gap.

Alan Robertson's pet had a lucky escape but the dog owner is worried that the six-foot sewer hole is also a risk to children.

Alan, 62, was walking his two golden retrievers, 18-month-old brothers Benji and Charlie, on Sunday afternoon at spare ground formerly occupied by housing between Pennyfern Road and Kenilworth Crescent.

He said: "Benji must have seen the hole and tried to jump over it, but he slid in backwards and couldn't get out. He was panicking.

"I also got a fright, but I didn't have my mobile phone with me so I couldn't phone for help.

"The only thing I could do was climb down into the hole, push him out and then clamber out myself.

"If the dog had gone in head first he could have broken his neck." Alan, who lives in the area and runs a pub in Paisley, said the uncovered manhole is a danger to children.

He said: "There used to be a maisonette on the piece of ground.

"Half of that area is now landscaped and the rest is badly rutted.

"The area used to be occupied by housing in Kenilworth Crescent, Hole Farm Road and Woodstock Road.

"I walk my dogs there regularly, but this has never happened before.

"You wouldn't know the hole was there, so I'm worried a child could fall down it." Alan's wife, Rose, who showed the uncovered manhole to the Tele, added: "Benji could have been a goner but a kid could easily disappear down it.

"A lot of people walk their dogs here, and if there's kids running about it could be really dangerous." The ground is on part of the former council housing estate in the area and is understood to be owned by River Clyde Homes River Clyde had no one available to comment.