IT is not often a one tonne car comes off the worst when involved in a collision with a puppy weighing just a few kilos.

But when 18-week old Dexter, a Staffordshire bull terrier, was hit by a Citroen C4 after running out into the street, that is exactly what happened.

The pup miraculously survived the collision, but left a dent in the grille, which was pushed backwards on impact, trapping Dexter between the grille and the car’s radiator.

Owner Katherine Oxford feared the worst when she heard a bang and saw her pup disappear in front of the car.

She said: “I definitely thought he was going to be dead.

“All I saw was his body go through the grille on the front, then his paws.

“I thought he was going to be chopped up.”

Mohammed Patel, who was driving the car, said he also feared the worst.

The 60-year-old technician from Daubhill was driving with his wife, Hazra, down Crescent Road in Great Lever on the way to the supermarket.

He saw little Dexter run out in front of him, before hearing a bang.

Mr Patel said: “I didn’t see it until it was too late to brake.

“I then heard the bang, but when I got out to look, the dog wasn’t there and we couldn’t work out where it had disappeared to.

“Then someone said they could see it through the grille in my car and when I opened the bonnet the dog was there.”

Mrs Oxford called the fire brigade after several residents tried unsuccessfully to free Dexter.

Crew manager Dave Holden, of Bolton Central fire station, says he was expecting a very different scene when he arrived.

He said: “When we got a call at 4.15pm on Monday saying a dog was stuck in the grille of a car, I was expecting something quite gory, but the dog was alive and seemed in very good spirits and uninjured.

“There was enough room for him to be quite comfortable and he was just panting with his tongue out.

“We were able to take the panel off and free him.

“It’s the first time in 20 years I’ve seen anything like it.”

Mrs Oxford says Dexter escaped while she was taking her 13-year-old daughter Lynsay’s keys out of the front door.

He has since been given a clean bill of health by the vet.

Mr Patel says that although no serious damage has been done to his car, the grille is slightly bent.