A group of sailors has rescued a tired labrador puppy who was lost at sea after falling from a ferry off the coast of Italy.

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The puppy's owner, Mario Di Meglio, had been in the process of bringing his new pet home when Noodle slipped out of the leash and fell overboard into the Gulf of Naples.

Mr Meglio said he alerted the ferry's crew but they did not stop, assuming the puppy had already drowned.

But about half-an-hour later, an exhausted Noodle was found by sailors from the RYCC Savoia club.

Video from the rescue shows the boat approaching the puppy, before it is plucked from the water.

"We approached, we were sailing and manoeuvring was not easy," sailor Massimiliano Cappa told La Repubblica.

"He was visibly exhausted, his legs almost paralysed by the cold. He trembled and wept."

The sailors dried Noodle's wet fur and held him close to their bodies in a bid to warm the freezing animal.

They then called a rescue boat to take the puppy back to shore, where he was reunited with his grateful owner.

"I am very happy, I could embrace him again," Mr Meglio told La Repubblica.

"But I'm still upset and angry about what happened: when the dog fell into the sea [and the ferry would not stop]."