HEREFORDSHIRE gardener and TV presenter Monty Don has told how his dog, Nellie, cheated death by millimetres.

The golden retriever, who appears with him on his BBC TV programme Gardeners' Word, was chasing a stick when she impaled herself on it and speared her throat.

Monty said the stick missed her arteries by millimetres.

"Thanks to our brilliant vet, working at night, she is fine – if very sorry for herself."

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And he urged in a social message message: "So please, don't throw sticks for dogs."

Monty, who presents Gardeners' World from his home at Longmeadow, near Leominster, has only recently lost another of his beloved dogs.

He revealed in May how Nigel, also a golden retriever, had died after being taken ill and is now buried with “lots of tennis balls” at Longmeadow.

Don told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme Nigel had been more than a companion and had helped him with his depression.