Regulars at the Royal Oak Hotel in Ledbury are mourning the death of the pub dog Suggs, known as "the shadow dancer" because of his playful nature.

Phone calls, letters, e-mails and text messages have been flooding in following the dog's death in a road accident at the weekend.

Suggs, who was a four-year-old border collie, had run off from his owner, Ian Martin, during a walk on Saturday afternoon, when someone let off a firework close to Lawnside Road car park.

Later that evening, a car hit Suggs when he was running across Bye Street in the dark.

The driver immediately pulled over just before Ledbury Community Hospital and customers from the nearby chip shop came out and made an unsuccessful search for the injured dog.

Mr Martin said that Suggs made it back to his Southend home, obviously suffering from internal bleeding. He died before he could reach a vet.

Mr Martin said: "Suggs will be sadly missed. Everybody knew him as the shadow dancer, because he would jump at shadows for fun. He was the most popular dog in Ledbury, and everybody who knew him will miss him."