A dog called Lizzie has won a top award for devotion to duty.

The young mongrel has been selected as the August Hearing Dog of the Month, by the charity Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.

And no one is happier with the news than profoundly deaf 57-year-old Joyce Patterson, with whom Lizzie has lived at her home in Ripon for the past three years.

Ms Patterson's life has changed since Lizzie became part of it.

The pair go everywhere together, even when Ms Patterson goes to work at the local branch of Sainsbury's.

Lizzie's owner has also become such a fan of the charity that she is now a committed fundraiser, giving talks and demonstrations with the help of Lizzie.

She said: "Her hearing work is indispensable to me. She is really good. Even after three years I still get a lovely thrill when I feel that paw touch to alert me to a sound."