THE community of Caldicot have rallied together searching into the night for missing eight-year-old Billy.

More than 20 Caldicot residents have joined Chris Carter and his family each night to search various areas of the town for sightings of the missing beagle who was last seen two weeks ago.

Tiga, a five-year-old beagle and trained tracker dog from Kent spent more than two days searching near the Pill in Caldicot where Billy was last seen.

Mr Carter, 54, of Fairfield Close, said: “The search party have been phenomenal. The amount of people in the community which have gotten involved is incredible.

“There have been 20 plus people looking every night, until 12am some nights. Two people in particular Rachel Harris and Dave Saffin have been great, they’ve contacted all the different authorities in the area, organising posters and searches - I’ve been phoning them to find out what’s going on.”

The team of 30 searched the Halt area of Caldicot on Friday night for the family pet who is a brown, white and black English beagle. The team have covered Rogiet woods and Dewstow Golf Club.

Mr Carter said: “He is a pretty dog and very valuable. He is part of the family.

“It’s a complete mystery, we were walking near the Severn bank which we do quite often, he was about 500 yards in front of me and then turned around a corner. When I caught up he’d completely disappeared - it’s completely out of character for him to bolt off. He hates the water, there is no way he could have gone in. We think he could have been taken.

We’ve had lots of calls but so far none of them have been Billy. We’ve been in contact with an animal psychologist who says it’s best to search at night time as Billy has more than likely gone into feral mode and will move about at night.”

David Saffin, 44, of Rogiet, said: “We’ve been out every night since Chris told me Billy went missing and will keep going as long as we can.” Billy is microchipped and the Carter’s are offering a reward for his return. Get in touch with any sighting on 07882786113 or 01291 421435.