A WORKING cocker spaniel named Poppy-Lola – Poppy for short – is lead contender for the title of Pup Idol as the search goes on for a dog to play Sandy in a Chepstow production of Annie!

Poppy's owner, Jessie James (14), from Chepstow, took her along to the Pludds Village Hall for an audition organised by Forest rescue dog expert Louise Best, who is helping to put the Chepstow Musical Youth Theatre production together.

"It went pretty well – we had nine dogs along and Poppy is among our three front-runners at the moment," said Louise.

"And there was another good entry by Chico and Jane. I had hoped to have some entries from Monmouth but unfortunately our audition clashed with a dog show there. However we can still see some more even at this stage.

"But Poppy was marvellous – she did everything I asked her to do.

"The next stage is to see how our choices react in front of an audience. We'll be taking each of them along to a rehearsal for this, working up to the final where the public will be invited to vote in early June."

Their final choice will play little dog Sandy who is Annie's companion in the musical.