The Burton Mail’s chief reporter is used to being worked like a dog – but recent events have seen this taken a little too literally.

The Mail’s David Powles recently underwent a major transformation to become Burty Newshound.

And the 6ft 2in, 13st Dalmatian, took part in a charity mascot race at Burton Albion’s new Pirelli Stadium for the paper’s Stop Cruelty to Animals wristband campaign.

The race, held at half time in the match against Stevenage Borough – in front of a crowd of 1,339 – saw Burty go up against Albion mascot Billy Brewer and Elvis Gresley, the mascot for the other local team Gresley Rovers.

Although Burty actually crossed the line in third place, it was only due to the fact that the dastardly Billy Brewer, who came in first, had tied his and Elvis Gresley’s legs together, leading to great front page pictures of the hounds tumbling to the floor.

Burty and a team of Mail employees raised almost £500 for the campaign.

Editor-in-chief, Paul Hazeldine, said: “I always thought David was barking, but agreeing to don the the suit and become Burty Newshound proves the point. I also wish he could produce his copy as quickly as he can run around a soccer pitch.

“Seriously, David did a cracking job in helping the paper to raise cash for our unique wristband campaign.”

As part of the initiative, specially-made Dalmatian-spotted wristbands are being sold at shops and supermarkets across the paper’s catchment area at £1.50 a time, with all profits going to the local branch of the RSPCA.

In little over a month the campaign has more than exceeded expectations with 6,000 of the wristbands already snapped up. Hundreds were sold prior to the game and at half time, while Ladbroke’s also pitched in with a free £50 bet, which is to be placed on an animal of the four-legged variety.

Readers have taken the campaign to their hearts and the Mail has twice had to reorder wristbands because they were selling out.