POLICE had to rescue two dogs left inside a hot car in a York city centre car park this afternoon.

York Street Rangers alerted officers to the situation after they spotted the two animals inside a car in Castle Car Park at about 4pm.

The officers broke into the 'stifling hot car' to free the dogs, which were handed over to the care of the RSPCA.

In a tweet about the incident, a police officer said: "It's simply not acceptable."

It is not the first time police officers have been forced to break into cars to rescue dogs in distress this summer.

On June 30 a police community support officer tweeted that police had rescued two dogs left inside a vehicle for more than two hours in the 'blazing hot sun'.

And on June 26 police officers smashed the window of a car parked at York Hospital after two dogs were left inside the vehicle on a day when temperatures hit at least 27C.