A Shropshire rescue dog has proved he is truly part of his new family after he began to give a helping paw with the recycling.

Collie cross Norman was in the Dogs Trust kennels in Roden, near Telford, for six months before being spotted by Rhea Parsons, of Castlefields, in Shrewsbury, a few weeks ago.

But after taking him home, Rhea, 27, realised he was going to settle in much better than expected.

She said: “I started recycling as soon as I moved to Castlefields because the recycling banks were really close to home and right next to the shops.

“It became a regular trip to head to the recycling bank and I actually felt a little sad when the council’s new system came in and boxes were delivered to the house.”

But plastic milk bottles do not meet the recycling criteria so Rhea continued to make the trip to the recycling bins once or twice a week.

“I still planned on carrying out my regular recycling system after picking up Norman but I had no idea that he would soon be aiding me in my ‘green’ intentions,” she added.

“On my first trip to the bank I took a longer route to let Norman stretch his legs and noticed somewhere along the way he had picked up a plastic bottle of his own.

“I assumed he thought it was a toy and would be looking for me to play but he followed me to the recycling bin and dropped his bottle at my feet.”

Thinking it may have been a one-off, on Rhea’s next trip she put a milk bottle on the floor to see what he would do.

“I thought it was brilliant when he picked it up in his mouth, crushed it, as everyone is asked to do, and took it to the recycling bank,” she said.

“I love the fact that now if I have one too many bottles to carry I have a little helper and if I don’t need any help he finds bottles that others have failed to put in the bin and makes sure they end up where they should.”

The Dogs Trust, based at Roden Lane Farm, can be contacted on (01952) 770225.

By Rebecca Lawrence