A CHANCE encounter between man's best friend and a farmer's favourite has bagged a novice photographer a place in the finals of a national competition.

Lynzi Worth, from Bicester, put forward the impressive image of her daring dog Willow the Yorkshire terrier coming face to face with a curious cow whilst out on a walk along the Thames Path in Oxford.

She submitted it to a contest run by last minute holiday rental provider Snaptrip.com, which has been on the lookout for British summer time snaps and put its entries to a public vote.

Ms Worth's photo has been included in the final 10, which will be put to judges.

The winner will be awarded with an trip to a holiday cottage in Devon.

The 29-year-old said: "My partner, Christopher is in the Royal Logistic Corps in the Army and is away an awful lot so I use my camera to keep him up to date with what we get up to while he is away from home.

"I am still gutted that he wasn’t there to see this.

"Not to mention the fact it was such a shock that Willow would even entertain a cow."

"It was such a spontaneous picture I wouldn’t change anything, the spontaneity of the picture makes it perfect."

So far, the picture has attracted 431 votes, ranking it in the top spot out of all the finalists.

But it is down to the judges to select their favourite, with competing pictures including a colourful sunset in Whitby reflecting off a rainbow of beach huts, the sunset in Leeds behind a daisy and an impressive shot of the lavender fields in Hitching, Hertfordshire.

Snaptrip.com founder Matt Fox said: “We love looking at holiday photos and the standard of entries has been incredibly high, especially this one from Lynzi.

"Some of the photos we have received are stunning and the final 10 are brilliant.

"It’s going to be really hard to choose our winner."

To see the final 10 photographs visit bit.ly/2jGUq8H