AWARD winning whippet Claudia was brought to a standstill this week after her owners discovered a nasty gash on her hind leg after taking her out for a walk.

The speedy pedigree was rushed to Companion Care in Marlow where nurse Morag Sutherland quickly administered an anaesthetic and 20 stitches.

Six-year-old Claudia had a jacket on while she was out walking in Flackwell Heath on Wednesday. Mrs Sutherland said she probably snared herself on a fence or branch ripping open her thin skin.

Mrs Sutherland, a nurse at the Chapel Street vets, added: "It was a nasty skin wound but it didn't damage the muscle luckily. It could have been a lot worse than it was."

Claudia, whose owner Raymond Brion owns four other whippets, has won racing cups at Hemel Hempstead Dog Stadium and has come first in the South Wales dog races.