12855/1DOGS, cats and rabbits helped swell the congregation at All Saints Church in Stanton St Bernard on Sunday.

The pets service was organised by local vicar Vanda Rowe who was the preacher, while the Rector of the Pewsey and Swanborough team Hugh Hoskin took the service.

Ms Rowe said parishioners took along a variety of dogs together with cats and a few pet rabbits.

She said: "We had a very good day and some of the dogs sang along beautifully to the hymns."

Ms Rowe took along her own dog Bill the Vicarage Dog who writes a regular column in the Pewsey and Swanborough churches team magazine, The Messenger.

Bill was so eager to join in, she said, that instead of sitting in the congregation while she gave the sermon he insisted on joining her in the pulpit.

There was bit of excitement, too, she said when one terrier took a definite interest in a rabbit in the pew in front. She said: "Every time the rabbit put its head up the dog would make a lunge for it but because it had short legs it could not reach the back of the pew so it fell on the floor."

Ms Rowe said: "We wanted to celebrate the place that pets have in our lives as part of God's creation."