A GRIEVING dog owner has criticised police for being slow to act after her beloved family pet was killed by a hit and run driver outside Nailsea fire station.

Cheryl Field, her partner Jason Patch and daughters Bethany, aged six, and 15-month-old Emily were left devastated when they were told their seven-year-old pedigree boxer Jaz had been run over, after she escaped from their Abbots Horn garden.

Eye-witnesses say the dog was hit by a blue Jaguar car on the Clevedon Road, at around 3pm on January 22, less than half a mile from her home.

Crews from the nearby ambulance station rushed out to help but the animal died instantly.

The accident badly damaged the car and parts of the bumper were left in the road.

Cheryl, a play leader at Greenslade Pre-school, said the car had since been spotted by a relative in Clevedon but when she contacted Nailsea Police Station on January 24 she was told that the officer who attended the scene was on leave.

And because he had not logged the incident, there was no crime reference number and no-one else could help.

Speaking last Friday, Cheryl said: “I’m not very happy that the information can’t be dealt with, as it is I feel like I’m doing the investigation for them.

“By the time the officer comes back the driver, who I have been told was a woman in her late 30s or early 40s, could have had the car fixed and there will be no evidence.”

However on Monday morning Cheryl was told officers had visited the address where the car had been seen but the owner had moved away.

She said: “The original officer has apologised for not contacting me sooner and said they will find out the woman’s new address and confront her.”

Cheryl, who bought Jaz when she was six weeks old, said she cannot stop crying since it happened and still opens the front door automatically to let her out.

She added: “I really hope the police catch the woman, who is obviously not a dog owner, as the damage caused proves she was going at some speed.

“Jaz was such a lovely dog and a big part of our lives, it is very weird without her.”

The family wanted to thank the ambulance crew, witnesses and staff at Watkins and Tasker vets.

A police spokesman said: “A police officer was stopped while on patrol on January 22 after being told a dog had been run over.

“Witness statements and house-to-house enquiries were completed and the officer was told the vehicle was a blue Jaguar car.

“Enquiries are continuing to identify the driver and anyone who has any information can call us on 101.”