A CARING new family has been found for a Staffordshire bull terrier whose previous owner was forced to give him up.

Anthea Vick and her husband Karl, who live in Leigh Sinton, jumped at the chance to give loveable Miley a new home, and he is already settling in well.

The two-year-old canine had previously been cared for by Anthony Thomas, who kept him at his ground-floor flat in Stanley Road, Worcester, which is run by Fortis Living.

But when Fortis told him he could no longer keep Miley at the flat due to complaints and not filling in paperwork correctly, Mr Thomas faced a challenge to rehome the good-natured Staffie.

After reading a Worcester News appeal to find the dog a new home, Mr and Mrs Vick were moved to contact Mr Thomas to offer their help.

Mrs Vick said: "We just saw it in the paper. My husband said if we had a dog you could take it for walks.

"We have had dogs before, but I'm not a young person anymore and I feel that I can't handle a boisterous dog, but he is fine. He is as good as gold. He is a lovely dog, he comes back when you call.

"It makes it more like home."

Fortis asked Mr Thomas to rehome Miley after "a number of complaints" were made about the dog, leading to verbal warnings instructing him to keep Miley on a lead.

Fortis also say 57-year-old had not filled in paperwork correctly to allow him to have a dog in his flat.

Speaking after Miley was rehomed, Mr Thomas said: "Miley has now gone. I'm gutted that it has come to this, I have no longer got a dog.

"He is a beautiful dog. They were absolutely a nice couple. I'm happy that people have taken him and I'm very, very upset about the housing."

In a previous statement about the issue, Fortis Living said: "We want to encourage responsible pet ownership and this is particularly important where there are shared facilities such as a garden.

"Due to a number of complaints, Mr Thomas has been given verbal warnings from us to keep his dog on a lead when using the garden.

"We have also worked with other agencies to ask Mr Thomas to think about how the dog is handled at the property.

"The request for him to rehome the dog is a last resort and comes at the end of long line of positive action from us.

"Also Mr Thomas did not apply for permission to keep a pet at his property which is a condition of his tenancy agreement."