Ref. 29402-01Oscar the dog may share his name with a prestigious gold statue but after his heroic performance at a Wootton Bassett lake he deserves an award of his own.

The black Labrador wasted no time when his owner Bryan Corry, of Sorrel Close, spotted lifebelts floating in the middle of Jubilee Lake.

Mr Corry, a 48-year-old engineer, said: "We were out for one of our walks around the lake when I saw two of the life rings in the lake.

"They had obviously been taken off their usual post and thrown in the lake.

"There was a man already there trying to recover them so I told Oscar to fetch and he went straight in.

"He got the first one without any trouble and brought it back, but the second one had got caught up in the reeds. It took him about 20 minutes to free it but he kept going and brought it to the side. He's very determined.

"Oscar's efforts were seen by another passer-by at the lake who said I had a top dog."

Despite his valiant swim, Mr Corry said the plucky two-year-old had been in his bad books on Thursday morning after he raided the biscuit tin in the kitchen.

He said: "My wife, Jill, who is a supply teacher, was celebrating her 51st birthday and had bought some biscuits and cakes to share with her colleagues at St Bartholomew's Primary School.

"But he had scoffed the lot he's very greedy and partial to Hob Nobs.

"But he redeemed himself with this good deed. I made a real fuss of him afterwards.

"He's naughty, but loveable. He loves swimming whenever we go to the lake although if there are fishermen I don't let him go in, as he tends to upset them. He usually goes straight for the bait box and scoffs that too!

"He's a lovely dog, whose bark is much worse than his bite. Our four children think he's a hero."

Alex Emery