A rescue dog is recovering at her new home six weeks after she ran away.

Mango, who is four years old, and terrified of humans, bolted from her new owners at their home in Northwood Hills on Bonfire Night.

Despite a number of confirmed sightings, including one on the M1 motorway, and a huge social media campaign to find her, she was never caught until she was spotted in an outbuilding at the Lincolnsfields Children Centre in Bushey on Sunday morning.

Her co-owner Ben Rawson-Jones says he is "filled with joy" that Mango is home but can’t help be worried that she may try and escape again.

He said: “It was an ongoing nightmare but there was always hope. She is a very scared dog and is terrified of humans. Mango has been in and out of rescue homes all her life.”

Mango, a Rhodesian Ridgeback, escaped on her first day with her new owners. A huge campaign was launched on Facebook with posts being shared thousands of times. Dog Lost, a voluntary organisation who search for lost dogs, scoured fields and villages in a bid to find Mango. She was sighted on a number of occasions including in Ruislip, Harefield, and Elstree but could never be caught.

Mango was finally caught in a building in Bushey by Phil Knight, 50 and Stephen Armstrong, 32.

Vikki Morley, deputy manager at Lincolnsfields, said: “The guys no idea who Mango was but they saw a distressed dog. They had to grab her by the collar because she didn’t want to be caught. She was in a terrible condition physically and we could see that she had ticks. She also had frostbite on one of her ears. We fed her but she didn't want anything to drink.

“We had no idea who she was but when we put a photo up on Facebook, someone told us that was Mango and then we realised how big it was that we had found her.”

Mr Rawson-Jones says that Mango, who currently weighs 17kg, is now settling at home but he and his mother are being extra careful to ensure that she can’t escape again.

“We’ve put a tracker on her and she’s only allowed in the garden if there are two people with her with two leads.

He added: “I was in pure shock that she was found but of course I’m ridiculously happy. It was absolutely amazing to receive the help that we did to find her. Dog Lost and their volunteers as well as kind members of the public gave up all their time to look for Mango which I am so grateful for.”

You can follow Mango’s recovery on Facebook on the page ‘Mango is home!!’