A stray dog who went to the rescue of an injured cyclist when he fell off his mountain bike has been hailed a hero.

Police in Romania say the 40-year-old man, named as Marion Ion, came off his bike in the area of Mount Semenic on Monday and could not move.

Following an emergency call, a mountain rescue team began a search.

When authorities arrived, they found Ion with hip pain and beginning to suffer from hypothermia.

However they say the man's "saviour" was a dog who sat next to him and protected him following the crash.

This also helped to keep him warm.

The dog stayed with him until emergency crews arrived - and even jumped into the ambulance.

Reports say despite being taken out by officers, he ran after the vehicle as it was driven away.

Image: Facebook/Jandarmeria Caras Severin

Mr Ion said of the crash aftermath: "When I left the bike, he came after me. I called him slowly, 'come on, come on'. I named him Squares."

He added: "He stayed, just stayed, saw that I was not leaving, and came next to me and stayed on the blanket.

"The ambulance came and he jumped in the ambulance with me. He was next to my feet, but the police took him.

"And the police said that after the ambulance left, he ran after the ambulance."

The dog, now been named Max, has been adopted by the vice-president of Caras-Severin county council Ionut Mihai Popovici.

Additional reporting: IRN