Rescued dog Lottie is using her nose to help surveyors track down dry rot and save buildings from collapse.

Lottie, a cross between a Labrador and a collie, was handed in to the Burford Blue Cross centre when she was only four months old. Her owners had found her too energetic.

Centre manager Lynn Rogers said: "We knew she had great potential.

"She showing excellent sniffing skills and all she wanted to do was work." So when she heard that Tim Hutton, the managing director of Hutton and Rostron Environmental Investigations, was looking for another "Rothound" she immediately thought of Lottie.

Rothounds are trained to search for rot fungus. They can cover ground more quickly and effectively than human surveyors. Mr Hutton, whose business is based in Guildford, Surrey, said: "We have always used rescue dogs.

"We were keen to take on a Blue Cross dog because of the charity's pioneering work on animal behavioural problems."

"She is doing a wonderful job for us.

"After work she comes home with me and gets into all sorts of mischief but we always manage to work that energy out of her the next day."

Story date: Monday 08 November

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