UK police dog dies while searching for intruder

London: A British police dog run over by a vehicle while trying to track down intruders has died.

Merseyside Police dog Ghost was searching for offenders who had entered premises in Southworth Road in St Helens yesterday early morning.

Police said the three-year-old German shepherd was found shortly afterwards on the M6 nearby with traumatic injuries after being hit by a vehicle.

His handler Police Constable Dave Bartley was extremely upset over the incident, the BBC reported.

Police said no vehicles stopped at the scene where Ghost was found.

Ghost had been a serving police dog for most of his three years and worked on numerous jobs.

He recently helped apprehend a car thief in St Helens while off duty.

Inspector Tony Byrne said he feared Ghost would have to be retired after suffering a lot of damage to his tail and a torsion in his stomach last year.

"It is rare for dogs to recover from things like this but he was big strong dog and came back from it."

He added: "Ghost and his handler were a prolific team and he was a much valued member of our team and will be sorely missed."