More than 100 owners entered their four-legged friends in a series of fun contests to find the town's top dog at Summerhill Country Park, in Hartlepool.

The pets faced a panel of five judges who were able to "buzz off" under-performing pooches, in a similar way to ITV's Britain's Got Talent.

The event was staged by Hartlepool dog trainer David Shaw, 42, and was the first of its kind in the town.

David, who runs Davie's Dog Training School at Summerhill, said: "I couldn't have asked for it to go any better. The judges each had an X in front of them and if a dog got five Xs they were evicted from the class."

Competitions included the dog with the waggiest tail, best groomed dog, best dog over six months old and the dog that walked best with its owner.

Aidan Davis and his British bulldog Luther came third in the category to find the dog that looked most like its owner.

Aidan, 55, from Horden, said: "I went along to support the event after finding out about it from the RSPCA. It was a fun day."

Prizes including collars, food and toys were sponsored by store Pets at Home and other local businesses.

They were awarded to the top three dogs in each category with the winners going through to compete for the in the grand final for the title of Best in Show which won by a Siberian husky puppy.

Judge Sarah Roberts, of Hartlepool RSPCA, said: "All the dogs behaved themselves and so did the owners."