AFTER months of voting, we can now reveal the winner of Pet Idol 2018 is..... eight-year-old Alaskan Malamute, Ava.

Readers of the Border Telegraph and our sister paper the Peeblesshire News voted in their hundreds for their favourite pet this year.

And owner Sandra McConnell, who lives in Hall Street Innerleithen, is "delighted" to have scooped the £300 prize and the coveted title.

She told us: "I am absolutely delighted Ava has won the competition.

"My friend Claire Mahon sent in the entry form for me as we just fancied giving it a go this year.

"We are very pleased people have voted for Ava – she is such a lovely dog, with a nice nature."

Sandra, who is a night support worker at St Ronan's House in Innerleithen, got Ava when she was a pup from a breeder in Kilmarnock.

She added: "I would like to thank everyone who voted. Ava is very well known in Innerleithen and in Peebles, so it is great to have won.

"I think I will take the family out for a nice meal with the prize money to celebrate."