A RUNAWAY dog returned home after surviving 24 hours in sub-zero temperatures.

Gizmo, a Shih Tzu, ran off on Sunday and was out all night as temperatures plummeted to below minus three degrees.

Distraught owner Linda Kerr launched a massive search, posting messages on social media and firefighters were even drafted in to help find the pooch.

Linda, 49, of Gleniver Road, said: "I was up at Knocknairshill Cemetery putting a little Christmas tree up at my mum's grave.

"Gizmo must have seen a rabbit and ran off his lead slipped out of my hands.

"I was in a terrible mess.

"I put a message on Facebook, called the RSPCA and the police, who told me to call the fire brigade."

Linda imagined the worst as time went went by and the mercury dropped.

She said: "I didn't know if we were going to find him or if we did find him he would be frozen stiff.

"My grandchildren were really upset."

Her daughter Melissa's friend, John Paul Hilferty, joined the search and managed to find Gizmo.

It turned out that he hadn't wandered far from the graveyard and was only half a mile away in bushes near to farm off the B788.

John Paul, 22, said: "I took my dog out for a walk and he sensed that another dog was there.

"Suddenly Gizmo ran out of the bushes shaking. I couldn't believe he still had his lead on. I thought he would have been wrapped around the fence.

"He must have lay up for the nigh."

Although the pooch was a bit cold and worse for wear he was unscathed by his freezing overnight adventure.

Linda, who has four grandchildren, said: "I nearly collapsed when John Paul found him, I couldn't stop crying with relief.

"It's a miracle he survived that weather.

"It's a beautiful, happy ending."