IT was a night of celebration for a police dog handler and a kennel supervisor were awarded an RSPCA Animal Hero award.

PC Lee Webb, an Avon and Somerset officer, and RSPCA kennel supervisor Sue Dicks, won the Special Recognition award at a ceremony in London.

The pair were recognised for the work they have done in transforming rescue dogs from the RSPCA in West Hatch into successful police dogs.

A number of the dogs are Staffordshire bull terrier types and may have struggled to find their forever homes without the help of PC Webb and Sue.

PC Webb said: "Going back about 13 or 14 years, we were looking for dogs to join us in the police - our relationship with the RSPCA at West Hatch all started with a dog called Zeus, a German Shepherd who was trained up to be a police dog.

"Then from time to time we would visit West Hatch and take a look at the dogs to see if any were suitable.

"About 10 years ago, the relationship became a bit more formalised and we built a good relationship with the kennel supervisor Sue Dicks, who is brilliant at looking for the right dogs for us.

"It's been a very successful relationship, with very little in terms of rejections.

"Sue will look at a number of things when selecting dogs for us, for example, she'll look at the way the dogs retrieve their toys and the way they use their noses.

"The dogs have also got to be the right age and temperament. If it's showing skills which are above average, Sue will contact us, and we can then build on their natural abilities.

"We tend to take dogs when they are between 10 and 18 months, but if a dog is exceptional then this can vary.

"A lot of the dogs will not have had the best of starts in life so, it's really nice that we can do this - many of them would probably never have been rehomed, especially some of the Staffordshire bull terrier types, so it's amazing to see them now working and doing a great job for us.

"We hope we can continue to maintain the relationship we have with the RSPCA for the benefit of both organisations.

"We are able to offer these dogs a happy future and that is what it's all about."