THE Black Star in Stourport has narrowly missed out on the title of 'most dog-friendly pub in the West Midlands'.

The Mitton Street pub came second in the Dog-Friendly Pub Awards, run by Rover.com, with The Oak at Baginton snatching the top prize.

More than 200 dog-friendly boozers from across the West Midlands entered or were nominated for the awards, which asked customers to vote for their favourite.

Maria Gooding, co-owner at The Black Star, told The Shuttle: "We're really pleased. It's a nice thing to achieve, especially considering how many pubs entered.

"We entered a couple of years ago and hadn't bothered since, but one of our regulars put us forward this year and put it on our Facebook page for people to vote."

The Black Star has its own resident dog, Alfie the chocolate Labrador, who was rescued from Forest Dog Rescue four years ago and has since made himself at home among the pub's regulars.

Maria added: "We do pride ourself on being a dog-friendly pub. We're right on the canal so people on boating holidays with their dogs are welcome to come in and join us.

"On Christmas day, we've got two tables booked for people who are bringing their dogs along. You can't leave them at home after all - dogs are a part of the family."

Now in its 4th year, the Dog-Friendly Pub Awards chooses 12 regional finalists with a panel of judges from Rover, RSPCA, Your Dog Magazine, The Guardian and The Morning Advertiser picking the overall winner.

Other pubs to make the top 10 included The Royal Exchange in Stone, The Bailey Head at Oswestry and The Fleece Inn in Evesham.

Simon Le Grice, from Rover.com, said: "The West Midlands has a fantastic array of dog-friendly pubs for locals to choose from.

"It’s been wonderful to see so many of them represented in this year’s awards.

"The community has really got behind their favourite pubs and helped us, for the fourth year running, to find the best of the bunch."