TWO dogs stolen from outside a Cheshire supermarket have been reunited with their delighted owners after being found in Stoke-on-Trent.

The two black Labradors were taken from outside Marks and Spencers on Beam Street in Nantwich at around 6pm on Saturday, March 27.

However, after news of the theft went viral over the weekend and following a police appeal, the dogs were found at an address in Stoke-on-Trent and three people have been arrested on suspicion of theft.

A spokesman for Cheshire police said: "The stolen dogs have been recovered from an address in Stoke-on-Trent this morning (Tuesday March 30) and returned to their owners.

"Three people who were at the address – a man, a woman and a 15-year-old boy – have all been arrested on suspicion of theft in relation to the incident.

"They are currently on their way to custody to be questioned as part of our ongoing investigation into the dog thefts."

Police had earlier released CCTV footage of two men running along Market Street with the two dogs.

The Labradors’ owner had tied the dogs up outside the main entrance of the store before going inside to do some shopping.

After the dogs had been taken, Detective Sergeant Vicki Shelton moved to reassure the public.

She said: "Pets are part of the family and having them stolen is a harrowing and distressing experience.

"I would like to reassure members of the community that we take incidents of this nature extremely seriously and are doing all we can to establish who stole the dogs, make them face the consequences of their actions and have the pets returned to their rightful owner."