PUPILS at Northway School in Headington, Oxford, never saw the guide dog for the blind they helped to buy, but they had the next best thing – a picture of him.

The dog, named Dicken, had just started training at Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, thanks to the pupils, who raised £250 in 1980 to pay for him by collecting waste paper and tin foil.

Headmaster Jim Price said: “We thought it might take 18 months to collect the money, but we have done it in nine months so we are thinking of raising money for a second dog. It is a popular appeal with the children.”