Lily AllenLily Allen has been reunited with her missing dog - but had to pay £500 for the dog’s return.

The dog, Maggie May, was snatched from a van outside a friend’s house in London last week.

Lily has now revealed: “We received a call from a man who said he had Maggie and had bought her as a present for his sister.”

“He didn’t really want to give her back but was persuaded by the reward. Some friends went to meet him a couple of hours later to see if it was Maggie. Luckily it was, so they left to get the money in order to get her back.”

“They came back and were asked to follow the man and his two friends in a car for a few minutes, away from the main road. They did this, handed over the money and got Maggie back.”

“Once Maggie had been handed over the young men and woman offered to sell more puppies to my friends, which made us realise these people were obviously in the business of moving dogs.”

“Now I feel guilty for having given them money and contributing to their cruel business but I love my dog and felt I had no choice.”

“The fact that she was very thin makes me think she was mistreated — not fed — and the fact she was infested with fleas implies she was kept with other animals. I’m not going into any more detail as this is now a matter for the RSPCA and the police.”

“Thank you again to everyone who has helped me retrieve Maggie. I can’t tell you how overjoyed I am to have her back, how grateful I am to everyone who has sent kind words and helped to find her. It’s been an awful experience.”