A family has condemned the “evil” people responsible for tying up and abandoning a dog in the woods.

Julie and Kevin Elliott, of Tay Road Close, in Earls Colne, were walking their own dogs through Chalkney woods, in Earls Colne, with their daughter, Katrina, and son-in-law, Wayne Jeggo, when they found the dog, thought to be a young Staffordshire Bull Terrier, tied to a tree stump.

As she did not have a micro-chip she was taken to the RSPCA Danaher Animal Home in Hedingham Road, Wethersfield, where she has been named Dime and will be put up for rehoming. 

To find out how to claim or rehome Dime, call the Animal Home on 03001 114321.