A family were happily reunited with their Jack Russell terrier on Tuesday, after it had been stolen outside M&S Hampstead.

%image(15169323, type="article-full", alt=""Milli" is 15 years old and means "everything" to her family. Picture: Sharon Traub")

Camilla, known as “Milli”, 15, was tied to the railing at the entrance of the supermarket in Pond Street at around 9am on Monday before she was nabbed as her owner popped in to do her shopping.

Just over 24 hours later, however, Milli was returned to her owner after she was spotted with a woman about to board a bus by a staff member from Sniffles dog grooming spa.

The woman reportedly said the dog was sold to her, before she left.

Owner Sharon Traub, who lives in Hampstead with her husband and three children, told the Ham&High - before Milli was found - that she meant “everything” to their family.

%image(15169325, type="article-full", alt="The M&S in Pond Street where the dog was stolen. Picture: Harry Taylor")

“We go to M&S almost every day,” the 44-year-old said.

“She sits there, I tie her up like I have done for 15 years, she knows the shop, she knows the people.

“I was in M&S one minute, then I came back and she was gone.

“I asked around and someone said they saw someone taking her, they told me the direction so I ran looking for my dog but I couldn’t find her.

%image(15169326, type="article-full", alt=""I am sad and very scared for her because she’s a very old dog." Picture: Sharon Traub")

“It was absolutely terrible, the worst thing that ever happened.”

CCTV screenshots from a nearby building showed a man walking towards M&S before the incident, and then shortly after, walking a dog away on its lead.

Sharon roamed the streets and shared pictures of Milli on social media and neighbourhood groups to get her dog back.

She called the response and support of the local community “unbelievable”.

“I think everybody in Hampstead was on the case,” Sharon said.

The mother-of-three had vowed to do “anything” to return Milli home and said her dog was “like a daughter”.

On Tuesday, police said no arrest had been made as their enquiries continued.

A Met Police spokesperson said: “Police are investigating after a dog was stolen from outside a shop in Pond Street, NW3 at approximately 9am on Monday, November 9.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact the police on 101 or tweet @MetCC and quote CAD1562/9Nov.