AN HEROIC surfer battled the elements with his longboard last Monday evening to save a puppy stranded off shore between Newgale and Pen-y-Cwm beach.

Brave 23 year-old, Bryan Phillips, of 1 Erw-Lon, Pen-y-Cwm, paddled out from Newgale beach, at around 6.30pm, fighting against fierce currents for over an hour, as he struggled to get the frightened dog onto his board.

Bryan said: "I couldn't just leave the pup out there to die. It was difficult to get the little thing on the board because it was so terrified, it was crying its eyes out."

Bryan had just finished his shift at The Duke of Edinburgh pub, Newgale, and was putting the barrels out when concerned locals realised the dog, a springer spaniel, was stuck on the tip of a rock and would soon be taken by the waves.

Changing into the wetsuit, he always keeps behind the bar, Bryan headed off to the beach. He was assisted in the rescue by two friends, Ollie Tuggey and John Byron, who followed him in a canoe.

It took some time for Bryan to coax the dog onto the board, and during the rescue the surfer was repeatedly swept against the rocks.

Once the puppy had been taken off the rocks, it was put into the canoe and returned to shore where it was reunited with its owners.

The unknown couple, from Haverfordwest, had narrowly escaped being trapped by the incoming tide themselves.

Onlooker and dog-owner, Fran Garner, who is a regular visitor to Solva, watched the rescue from the cliffs with binoculars.

She said: "Bryan is so brave, he didn't even know the dog but went out anyway. The dog would definitely have drowned if it wasn't for Bryan, he is a hero."