A dog which went missing in freezing temperatures after he was hit by a car in Costessey has been reunited with his delighted owners.

People in the Costessey area had been urged to keep an eye out for the one-year-old Norwegian Buhund, called Alfie, who disappeared on Friday evening.

Alfie had been hit by a car in Ringland Lane, close to the Urban Jungle garden centre, while being walked at about 5.45pm.

He ran off in the direction of Old Costessey, which sparked an appeal from his owner Kate Smith for people to help find her beloved pet.

Dozens of friends and neighbours joined the search and the Evening News featured the hunt for Alfie on our website.

That led to a lady getting in touch with Mrs Smith to say she had seen a dog fitting Alfie's description in the Taverham area.

Mrs Smith, from Silvo Road in Queens Hill, Costessey, said: 'A lady who had seen the story on the Evening News website said she had seen him over towards Taverham Lane. 'My husband Johny was out there putting up posters and we got a call from the doctors' surgery up there to say that he had been seen on the grounds.

'Alfie had been growling at people who were trying to catch him, but when my husband got up there he ran straight towards him.

'We are so pleased to have him back. He seems to have an injury to his front paw, but we'll get him checked out at the vets.

'He's survived for two nights out in the cold, though, so we don't think he can have been too badly injured.'

Other families from Queens Hill joined the search for Alfie and Mrs Smith said she was extremely grateful to them for their assistance.

She said: 'I'd like to say thank you to everyone from Queens Hill who helped to look for him. There must have been about 50 people searching for Alfie. There's a great sense of community spirit here and I just can't thank them enough.'