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• The Repair Shop

The Repair Shop guest shares 'heartbreaking' tale of rescue dog in Lockerbie disaster

The Repair Shop experts were moved after hearing the tragic story of one dog's rescue efforts after the Lockerbie disaster

[A man holding his mouth looking upset]

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The man was moved after seeing the reveal of his late dog's collar and rescue jacket(Image: BBC)

Leather worker Suzie Fletcher was tasked with restoring one extremely sentimental item during an episode of The Repair Shop.

BBC viewers saw the expert and Dom Chinea welcome a man called Neil Powell into the barn, as he had his late rescue dog's jacket and collar with him.

During the episode, which first aired back in 2025, Neil explained that his border collie dog called Pepper was 'one of the best' search and rescue dogs he had ever had, having qualified at just 18 months.

He explained that her first live search was for a young German boy who was missing for 36 hours in bad weather conditions before Pepper found him still alive.

When asked if the four-legged companion helped with any other rescues, Neil said the worse experience he had was being involved in the Lockerbie Pan Am air crash back in 1988.

[A man in a blue jumper looking to the left]

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The man was keen to get Pepper's collar and jacket restored by the BBC team(Image: BBC)

He said: "It left a huge crater there and the search and rescue dogs were all brought in to help search for people, any survivors. I mean, working in that crater, it was muddy and horrible.

"The smell of the aviation fuel was dreadful. It was just like that for four days. Pepper had found a suitcase which turned out to be very significant. There were scorch marks on it that suggested this had been a bomb."

Tragically, 270 people lost their lives in the Lockerbie bombing, including 11 people who lived in the Scottish town. BBC viewers were told that aviation fuel and radioactive material used in the manufacturing of the plane contaminated the crash site.

Neil added: "As a result of that, little Pepper, he and like five or six other dogs who were in that crater searching for human remains, they all developed tumours in their nose and their windpipes.

[Three men at an airport with a dog next to an international response unit cage]

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Pepper was one of the rescue dogs involved in the Lockerbie disaster(Image: BBC)

"We're not sure, was it the aviation fuel, or what was it? But they died. It was heartbreaking. Heartbreaking when Pepper died, it was really awful."

Dom issued an apology over the loss of his beloved pet as Neil highlighted how important the jacket was to him that he used to wear in the mountains.

During the restoration, textile conservator Rebecca Bissonnet was beginning to clean the jacket when Pepper's name was revealed on the side, something which was initially missed.

She commented: "Oh my goodness, I can see Pepper's name! I'm not even a dog person and that's really moving. Look at that, it was just covered with dirt. That's really lovely."

[A dog rescue jacket and collar on a wooden board]

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The experts managed to successfull restore the jacket and collar(Image: BBC)

In the end, the pair managed to fix both the jacket and the collar as it was time for Neil to return to the barn and see the big reveal.

He was instantly overcome with emotion as he held back tears, commenting: "Now, that's perfect. That is absolutely perfect. Now, I'm going to crack up! It's all refreshed and renewed, it's beautifully done. You're very talented people."

Praising the lettering of Pepper's name that Rebecca managed to recreate, Neil added: "I'm overwhelmed by that. He told the experts that the jacket and collar were going to be displayed at the Mountain Rescue Centre base to honour Pepper.

The Repair Shop is available to watch on BBC iPlayer

[The Daily Record]

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