WE have a winner!

Thousands of readers voted online for The Northern Echo’s first ever Christmas Pawtrait winner and the honours have been taken by Cheryl Waddell’s entry featuring her amazingly obedient dogs.

The seven-strong pack clearly stole voters’ hearts as they stood head and paws above the competition with 1,300 votes – almost double the next nearest competitor.

Ms Waddell, of Consett, admitted that she thought she had “a little bit of a chance” of seeing her dogs run away with the competition, but told The Northern Echo that she didn’t really expect to win., She said: “I would just like to thank all the people that voted.”

The competition attracted more than 100 entries across the North-East which were whittled down to ten finalists with the help of Darlington panto stars Ashleigh and Pudsey.

Competition organiser and Northern Echo photographic co-ordinator Sarah Caldecott said she was delighted with the success of the contest and hoped it would become an annual affair.

Ms Waddell can now look forward to seeing her beloved pets become photographic stars all over again in the New Year when she receives her prize of a professional pet portrait session.