It was a quiet Tuesday evening in Swanscombe. Families were settling down for dinner and city workers were making their way home.

But at a semi-detached house on Trebble Road, just after 6pm, chaos ensued when a six-month old Chihuahua made a bid for freedom.

Sara Crockford, 36, was looking after her sister Elizabeth’s two dogs for the day. An owner of four canines herself, she admits she and the youngest pup, Evie, are not the best of friends.

“She absolutely hates me. She’s a very timid dog and only really likes my sister and her husband,” she told News Shopper.

She added in a Facebook post: “If looks could kill I’d be dead 10x over.”

And when Sara’s husband Dan opened the front door after returning home from work, Evie saw her opportunity and took it.

“My husband had to look twice as he opened the door because she’s so small,” Sara said.

The next thing she knew, Sara dashed out of the house and started sprinting to catch the mischievous pup – along with two ten-year-old boys she managed to enlist for help along the way.

Wearing jogging bottoms and slippers, the 36-year-old mother of three ran “at full pelt” to chase down the dog, screaming at other people to try and stop her from going any further.

During the pursuit, she decided her slippers were just weighing her down, and took them off to carry on in her socks – which are now completely black with dirt.

Sara added: “I haven’t been to the gym in about four years since my daughter was born – it was the most exercise I’ve done in ages.”

As Sara lost sight of the tiny dog and Dan followed behind her, still in his suit, the two helpful youngsters ran ahead and pointed the couple in the right direction.

Exhausted and panicked, the couple were worried about Evie running into oncoming traffic during rush hour and desperately wanted her to slow down.

But little Evie just kept running.

As Dan went back to the house to get the car and look for Evie on the roads, Sara and the two boys continue their pursuit, now frantically sprinting through Greenhithe.

They reached a tall gate, which Sara thinks was about 7 ft tall. It’s a huge feat, but Sarah couldn’t give up now after seeing a glimpse of the runaway dog on the other side.

After scaling the gate to reach Evie on the other side, one of the boys managed to corner her while Sara coaxed her closer.

It was a tense moment. Evie was not a silly pooch. She knew Sara didn’t really have food in her hand.

But Sara never gave up, and persisted to call Evie towards her.

And her hard work paid off when she managed to catch her by the scruff of her neck.

“I held her so close to me after that. She struggled but there was no way I was letting her go,” Sara said.

As she passed the dog to one of the boys and climbed back over the gate, Sara kept her eye firmly fixed on Evie, who was not at all happy to have been caught.

But for Sara and her helpers, the ordeal was over when their “knight in shining armour”, Dan, appeared in the car to drive them all back home.

After her ordeal, Sara told News Shopper she was so grateful to the young boys for helping her catch the troublesome dog, and her sister also showed her gratitude by offering them five pounds each for their hard work.

“It’s so nice that young boys cared and wanted to help me in this situation,” Sara said.

Sara has confirmed she will probably be throwing her socks away after her Tuesday evening excursion.