OWNERS of a pet dog killed in a freak accident said the animal had escaped from its home earlier in the day.

OWNERS of a pet dog killed in a freak accident said the animal had escaped from its home earlier in the day.

The nine-year-old collie, called Rocky, was one of two dogs which died after being struck by a car in Henley Road, Ipswich.

He was owned by Susan Easterbrook, of Willowcroft Road, and had got out of the house through an open window - it wasn't the first time he had run away and had previously been brought back by the owner of the other dogs in the accident.

Her daughter, mother-of-two Tammy Clennell said: “My mum is devastated - as we all are.

“She had had Rocky since he was six weeks old and he was a real part of the family. He was a big softie and was great with the children - they adored him and he just loved being cuddled.

“She blames herself terribly for what has happened and is so upset.”

Mrs Clennell, who has daughters Chelsea, four, and Katie, two, said Rocky had escaped a couple of times in the past few weeks and repairs were being carried out to the garden fence to try to prevent him getting out.

The collie was killed after it and two rottweilers, Lulu, two, and Burley, three, were hit after they ran out in front of a car. Burley also died but Lulu was uninjured.

The rottweilers' owner Diane Rogerson, of Elmcroft Road, who also runs the Thumper Rabbit Rescue centre, said she was walking her two on the Henley Road fields when the collie appeared and her dogs bolted towards it.

She said the previous week, Rocky had also appeared on the field and came up to her dogs.