Police dog Vader had the ‘Force’ with him when he survived a 50ft fall while tracking a car thief – and he could be back at work as soon as next week.

The two-year-old German Shepherd, who was only three days into his new job with handler PC Simon Jeffrey when it happened, lived to tell the waggy tale with just a broken claw and a bit of bruising.

The rookie dog had been called on to sniff out a driver who had crashed a stolen car and run off, near the Toyota garage off Canal Road, Bradford, late last Friday. Thinking he had picked up the man’s scent, he leapt over a 4ft wall and plunged straight into Bradford Beck with just eight inches of icy cold water in it and a concrete base.

PC Jeffrey said: “I can’t believe he survived. He must be the luckiest dog in the country. All I saw was him jump up, clear the wall and then nothing until I heard a splash.

“I thought he was dead until I shone my torch down and spotted him in the water, all four legs spread out, looking up at me.”

The Keighley-based dog handler, who followed his dad Harry into the police and took on his father’s collar number 2181 after he retired, had to scramble through brambles and clamber over obstacles to get to Vader.

Vader’s plunge triggered off a massive rescue operation which took about an hour – a police helicopter was called out to shine its searchlight over the beck while two fire crews worked with PC Jeffrey and his colleague, PC Matthew Lee, in the beck to find a way of hauling Vader up to safety.

“We tried him in a bag, then a kind of spinal board but eventually it was a collapsible stretcher that worked,” he said. “He didn’t make a sound all the way through the rescue.

“He’s only lost a nail. He’s a bit battered and bruised and a bit subdued but he’ll be fine. He’s walking a bit like a robot because he’s so stiff but fingers crossed he’ll be back at work soon.”