Steven Woods was taking his dog Sasha for a walk around the Cockenzie Power Station site in East Lothian at lunchtime on Wednesday when she jumped over a wall and fell into the water below.

When Steven realised his four-year-old Alaskan Malamute had gone into the Forth he ran down to the rocks and began calling to her.

But she had gone under a bridge into a man-made cove and had become disorientated, swimming in circles.

Steven, 26, from Prestonpans, said: “She didn’t know there was a drop and water there. She doesn’t like the water much so didn’t choose to go for a swim.

“The way she was swimming I knew she was lost and wouldn’t come out the cove.

“I didn’t want her getting swept out away from the rocks. When she wouldn’t come out the cove I ran back up to the bridge and at this point the guys working in the power station could hear me shouting for her and they saw her in the water swimming in circles.

“I was getting ready to jump in after her and they shouted to me that they would get her in the crane basket.”

The demolition workers, who are stripping down the remains of the former coal-fired power station, used a crane with a basket to lower one of the crew into the water.

The Brown and Mason employee then managed to pull Sasha into the cage before being raised up back onto dry land.

Steven, a driving instructor, said it was “pure luck” the crew were there with the crane when it happened.

After her rescue, an unfazed Sasha went on to finish her walk.

He added: “A big thanks to the guys at Brown and Mason demolitions. They did a great job.”