A dog lover has invented a gadget which can track a missing dog by treating its nose - like a FINGERPRINT.

Smart Snout is the brainchild of Bradley Watson, 44, who came up with the idea after watching a police show on TV.

He saw officers using fingerprint technology to collar crooks and realised that the same idea could be applied to pooches.

It is thought that every dog's nose has a pattern that, when coupled with the shape of its nostril openings, is distinctive enough to identify it.

Bradley, from Bramford, Suffolk, said: "We're doing really well - we've just applied to go onto Dragon's Den!

"The reviews are absolutely amazing. It is - in theory, at the moment - an unbeatable system.

"It's working really well, and we're hoping, if we can get enough bodies on board. There's no way it can be beaten, unlike the chip - which is just cut out.

"I've been watching the growth of dog thefts, and I've witnessed it first-hand from customers.

"I've always tried to find a way - like I said, I was just watching police interceptors. They did a roadside scan of a fingerprint suspect.

"It brought up all their details on the system, and I thought, 'now why can't we do this with dogs?'.