The Coventry Evening Telegraph and its readers were going to the dogs… to raise more than £30,000 for the victims of the tsunami.

Hundreds of readers supported a fundraising evening at Coventry’s greyhound stadium and 13 local companies joined the paper in sponsoring the evening’s races, with all money going to the appeal.

Guests at the evening included cricketer-turned-game-show champion Phil Tufnell, who helped organise a fundraising auction which brought in several thousand pounds.

Other guests included Arso Soematri of the Indonesian embassy in London.

The stadium restaurant was packed with readers and sponsors on the night and many others bought tickets for the trackside bars.

Other donations on the night came from dog owners and trainers and a raffle. Bookmakers Ladbroke and William Hill donated auction prizes.

Phil Tufnell said: “It was marvellous. It was wonderful for so many people to come together to support such a great cause.”

Evening Telegraph editor Alan Kirby described the event as “exceptional”.

He said: “We are delighted we had so much support, not just from our readers, but also from local companies.

“Hundreds of people had some great fun, but more importantly, we raised a fantastic amount for the tsunami appeal.”