One man and his dog travelled to Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium to compete for the title of fastest domestic dog in Britain – only for the call of nature to come too soon.

Paul Hartley, of The Glebe in Gravenhurst, was barking mad with his Manchester terrier Benjamin, after he failed to make it into the final at the McCoy's Cup.

He said: "We didn't get through the first heat because obviously Benji did what we thought he would do, he slowed and stopped for a wee."

Benji was up against 36 other dogs in the competition, but mechanic Paul was disappointed to have missed out on final where £1,000, a year's supply of McCoy's crisps and the McCoy's Cup were up for grabs.


But Maxwell and Saskia, stars from this year's Big Brother, who hosted the dog-eat-dog contest were impressed by Benji's performance.

For the full shaggy dog story see the September 9 edition of the Biggleswade Chronicle.