Norman Bright has turned his hobby into a mission to help track and find lost dogs across the country.

Most recently the 54-year-old from Great Wakering, volunteered to go to Cheltenham to try and find a pug dog that has been missing for more than a month.

Echo:

He said: “Aika is a special dog - she was rescued by a charity called Muffin Pug rescue and her owner Harriet is distraught that she is out there somewhere so I went up with four drones including the thermal one.

“The area is vast but the drones help give perspective and narrow down the areas for a search but unfortunately on this occasion we couldn’t find her.”

Not that Norman gives up at this point. Instead he cut together the footage and turned it into a film which has been shared among dog lovers across the country on Facebook and Youtube helping to spread the word about the missing pug pet.

Kristine Lovelady who runs Muffin Pug Rescue up in Cheshire said: “Aika is one of our rescue dogs and we need her back home with Harriet.

“Finding missing dogs can be a long and arduous task and we are incredibly grateful to Norman for giving his time to come from Essex to Gloucestershire to help.

“It’s incredible what he does and our 5,000 followers are so grateful. The film is such a help too as it gives people a sense of the huge area we need to search and raises Aika’s profile across the country.”

Whilst the search continues, there have been plenty of occasions where Norman’s efforts have been well rewarded.

Penny the Chihuahua cross went missing in October 2017 in Wakering and after several sightings, Norman sent up his drone and managed to spot her in a field, helping to herd her in the direction of waiting rescuers.

He said: “She was the same colour as the earth so I flew the drone over and then I could just see her right bang in the middle of the field. She actually looked up and I managed to use the drone to encourage her in a direction where the rescuers were lying in wait.”

On February 23, Rainie – a Romanian rescue dog - went missing after escaping in Wickford and was seen around the fields at the Carpenter’s Arms, so once again Norman went to the rescue working with Tilly’s Angels to locate Rainie much to the delight of his owner Sharon Hodgetts.

Ms Hodgetts said: “I have to mention a special thank you to Norman Bright who made the discovery of Rainie’s location a much easier task for all of us.

“He is a very skilled gentleman who has a lovely heart to do what he does.”

Norman will be centre stage filming with the BBC at Southend Airport again next week to highlight new drone laws which came into place on March 13.

Changes made by Government mean that no drone shall be operated within two miles from the centre of the airport’s longest runway and 5km from the threshold of every runway.

It’s a familiar patch for Norman who works closely with Southend Airport to ensure that, as a qualified drone pilot, a responsible and legitimate drone service is offered but in the meantime dog owners across Southend and beyond are forever grateful for his help.