A FAMILY returning from a weekend break in France were left devastated when they were forced to leave behind their pet dog.

Jane and Richard Birtwistle were set to board the Eurotunnel back home on Sunday when chocolate Labrador Coco's microchip failed to scan and the animal was refused entry back into the UK.

Despite a desperate race to Dunkirk to persuade a French vet to open his surgery and operate on Coco to remove the microchip, it still failed to scan and the authorities were unable to verify the dog's identity.

The couple, of Church Street in Walshaw now face a wait of up to six months before they can bring their pet home.

They regularly travel to France with nine-month-old son Joshua and Coco as they put the finishing touches to their new home in Le Touquet, near Calais. They had returned to France this time to celebrate their first wedding anniversary.

Following advice from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Jane took two-year-old Coco to their vets in Ramsbottom for a last-minute health check making sure the microchip was working before they left for France on Friday.

Under Defra's Pet Travel Scheme, all animals must be microchipped, vaccinated against rabies and then blood tested before being issued with their own pet passport. Without being able to make sure Coco's microchip matched her passport, she has been unable to re-enter the UK and is instead in French kennels while the microchip is sent back to the manufacturers in Spain for tests to find out why it failed.

Jane said: "If the manufacturer can somehow get a reading from the microchip, then they can get the paperwork in place to get Coco to return to the UK. However, if the chip is broken and there is no reading, she has to have a new microchip and stay in France for up to six months."

Jane has been in regular contact with Defra explaining she has other documentation proving Coco was the same dog along with confirmation from the family vet - but all to no avail.

Faced with the choice of bringing Coco into the UK but keeping her in quarantine for up to six months, the Birtwistles decided to keep her in France in kennels where they can visit her when they return to the house in Le Touquet.

Jane, a French teacher at St Monica's High School in Prestwich, said: "The French think it is ridiculous that a British dog which has a British pet passport and everything else in place is not allowed to return home because of a fault with the microchip.

"Coco is part of our family and Joshua adores her. Every day we go out walking with the pram and the dog and Coco will watch over Joshua as he plays. We really miss her.

"I've spoken to the kennels in France who said Coco is acting withdrawn - which is just not like her. She has had to undergo an unnecessary operation and is with people she doesn't know and could be there for months. This is not the dog's fault and she is now suffering because of British bureaucracy."

A spokesperson for Defra said: "The Pet Travel Scheme enables dogs and other pet animals to enter the UK from the EU and certain non-EU countries without quarantine, provided that certain measures are taken and conditions are met.

"Firstly, the animal must be microchipped in order to identify it. It must then be vaccinated against rabies, and a blood test must then be carried out. There is then a six-month wait following a satisfactory blood test result, in case the animal was incubating rabies at the time of vaccination. Finally, the animal must be treated for ticks and tapeworms before being checked in to travel into the UK with a valid pet passport.

"The Pet Travel Scheme forms part of the UK's controls to maintain the country's rabies-free status. If all of the conditions of the Pet Travel Scheme are not met, the animal must enter quarantine for up to six months."