JASPER the friendly boxer dog has been reunited with his family after his owner staged a protest outside council offices.

Jasper went missing and was picked up by a council dog warden, and hard-up owner Ray Balch was asked to stump up £50 to get him back.

Ray, 35, of Fairfield Drive, Clitheroe, stood outside Ribble Valley Council offices with a placard and asked passers-by to sign a petition for Jasper's return.

The council agreed to waive the £35 stray dog fine and administration costs, so Ray just had to pay the £15.75 kennelling fees.

Ray, a welder, has recently been made redundant after an industrial accident and was out for an appointment at the benefits office when four-year-old Jasper vanished. He thinks the garden gate was left open by a window cleaner.

Ray told the police about Jasper's disappearance.

His wife Anne and two sons, Ben, 11, and Nathan, seven, were distraught and went out with him to search for Jasper.

Local councillor John McGowan even joined in with the search. Ray said: "He must have gone missing at 11.30am. He was picked up at noon in Lancaster Drive just 100 yards away from our house. I didn't know where to turn when I lost him."

Ray found out that Jasper had been caught by the dog warden and taken in by kennels in Oswaldtwistle.

He said: "I asked if I could pay the fees by instalments as I could not afford to pay one lump sum, but I was told I had to make the payment in full.

"I decided to take the matter into my own hands and held a peaceful protest outside the council offices.

"All I wanted to do was to try to embarrass the council because in certain situations people should be a bit more lenient."

Ray collected 17 signatures in half an hour from people who supported him.

But the council has stressed its decision was a "one-off" based on Ray's personal circumstances and said it would continue its get-tough policy of impounding all stray dogs and fining owners.

Council environmental health manager James Russell said the council's decision had nothing to do with Ray's protest.

"We have a legal duty to pick up dogs, and we employ a dog warden to do routine patrols," he said.

"This man was asked to pay the kennel fees, which was a large amount of money for someone in his position."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.