A dog lover has been dubbed a ‘real-life superhero’ after using her drone to reunite families with their lost pets, most recently just before a ‘deadly’ storm arrived.

Erica Hart had a typical Friday, abandoning her shopping expedition to rush home and launch a drone hunt for a schnauzer before a rumbling thunderstorm made matters worse.

Jamie Hollinshead called her from Clayton, Yorkshire, to report his rescue dog Hilda had escaped from their garden and they’d already spent two hours searching for her.

The 33-year-old hurried to the last known location and saw the runaway dog racing along a residential road within 20 minutes.

Erica was able to advise Jamie and his wife to the optimum position for intercepting the two-year-old puppy when she darted into a nearby field and kept running.

The Clayton couple, who acquired the rescue dog in April, have dubbed Erica a ‘real-life superhero,’ and believe Hilda would have died if she hadn’t been found before the rainstorm came.

‘She performed an amazing job. She’s a true superhero, a hero.’

‘She literally saved her life.’ She could have been ran over, or the storms could have scared her—you always assume the worse.’

‘Erica was in frequent contact with us.’ ‘She understood what she was doing and where to look,’’said Leah, who had no idea how the dog got out of their fenced-in yard but assumed it was startled by the thunder.

‘As the night wore on, we believed we’d never see her again.’ When we got her back, it brought a tear to my eye.’

It was fantastic to watch the owner’s expression when they’d been following the dog for hours, then I turn up and it’s over in 20 minutes,” Erica, from Goldthorpe, quipped.

‘It’s a good thing we found her when we did. The storms began minutes after I brought the drone down.’

‘Once that drone is above the dog, it won’t fly because I can guide people in quickly enough.’ It’s similar to a military operation.

In seven years, the humble drone operator claims she has rescued over 200 dogs and has formed a Facebook group where individuals send lost dog posters and Erica publishes the happy endings.