WHEN Chris and Julia Moran lost their poodle, Archie, 18 months ago, they had no idea what happened to him.

The toy poodle vanished from their garden in July 2009, and had not been seen since... until he turned up in Oxford.

On Thursday – 549 days after he vanished – the couple were reunited with Archie, more than 100 miles from home.

He was found yelping, lost and alone by a member of the public. When Oxford dog warden Ken Williams discovered Archie had been microchipped, he traced his owners and broke the news – on Mrs Moran’s 47th birthday.

Pre-school teacher Mrs Moran said: “It’s the best birthday present I could ever have.”

Archie went missing from Mrs Moran’s sister’s Heybridge garden on July 27, 2009, while the Morans were on holiday.

Mr Moran, 52, said: “We searched for days and days. We put up posters all over Maldon and in the supermarkets. You name it, we did it.

“We either thought he had been knocked down, or he had gone off with somebody. It was like losing a member of the family.”

However, Archie’s missing 18 months remain a mystery. He was dirty but not malnourished or injured when he was found.

Mr Moran joked: “We don’t know how he ended up there. Maybe he came up to Oxford to study for a degree.”