Blinky started barking as his owners Jacqui and Colin Fearon slept on their boat in Farndon Marina, Nottinghamshire, at around 1am on Sunday. The pooch, who is usually very quiet, had spotted two men struggling in the water and alerted the Fearons with his "frantic" noise.

       The couple told the Times: “We could hear it in his bark, it was frantic."

       The Fearons, along with a security guard, helped the men to safety as police also attended.

       The couple spoke of their pride for rescue dog Blinky, believed to be a smooth collie, for raising the alarm.

       Mr Fearon said: “To watch my wife and the security guard pull one guy out of the water while I was holding on to the other guy was amazing.

       "I was so proud of them - and proud of my dog also because without him we would never have known that they were in the water.”

       Mrs Fearon added: “Without Blinky I’d never have heard them.

       "He’s a real guardian angel."

       As a reward, Mrs Fearon said she gave Blinky a "nice big bone from the local farm shop”.

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       She added: “He was in paradise with it.”

       The Fearons had travelled with Blinky to the marina from their home in Peterborough last Friday.

       Mr Fearon said: "The marina is very empty because you don’t go sailing in winter.

       "There were only a few people there that night.”

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       It is thought one of the men fell in the water after slipping on ice.

       The other man is believed to have got into difficulty as he tried to help him.

       One of the men was taken to hospital with suspected hypothermia but both are expected to make a full recovery.

       Sgt Matthew Burgess, from Nottinghamshire Police, said: "It was a really dangerous situation.

       "It was a freezing cold night, the pontoons that everyone was trying to balance on and revive these males on were iced over, it was like a skating rink.

       "Without everyone working together I'm quite confident we could easily have been dealing with fatalities."