Inquisitive pup Zak was with his owner Norman Robinson on Whitby's East Pier last week when the shocking incident took place.

Zak was shaken but thankfully unharmed after his nasty surprise but Mr Robinson warned that next time someone might not be as lucky.

Mr Robinson (45) who lives in Prospect Hill and runs a jet shop in Sandgate, said he had just gone onto the pier to make a phone call.

"I wanted to make the call somewhere quiet so I took my dog for a walk down the East Pier," he said.

"The dog was running round then I heard it yelp and jump backwards, I thought it had disturbed a seagull or a rat or something.

"I went over to have a look and I could see an exposed wire, which obviously had live current running through it .

"I could see the wire was showing where the sea water had eroded it away.

"Luckily Zak was alright and didn't need any treatment but it wasn't nice for him."

Mr Robinson said the wire was running across where the East Pier bridge used to be and he thought it could be used to power the lighthouse.

He has had Zak, a retriever-collie crossbreed for a year and although he was not harmed from his ordeal, others may not be as fortunate.

"Lots of children play down there and if one of them had touched the wire it could have been a lot worse," he said.

"It needs to be made safe before someone is hurt."

Zak has shown no ill-effects from his shock last week and is back to his usual self.

The pier falls under the control of Scarborough Council which is responsible for maintaining and servicing it.

A spokeswoman for Scarborough Council said it had been made aware of the problem and would be looking into it.

l What do you think? You can have your say at our website www.whitbygazette.co.uk by commenting on this story or clicking on the forum link.