A CHILD has been reunited with his cuddly dog thanks to an internet campaign.
William Hobbs, three, lost Teddy while out shopping with his father in Brentwood High Street on Saturday last week.
Dad Geoff Hobbs said: "We spent two hours backtracking through the high street trying to find it.
"We thought that we had dropped it in a charity shop, but when it wasn't there we went back to every place we had visited."
Katie Groves, William's mother, said: "He was never seen without his teddy dog, he took it with him everywhere.
"William convinced me to put a poster in the St Francis Hospice shop window and buy him a new one, but it was absolutely huge; it wasn't the same as Teddy."
Teddy was found outside the Western Road home of Paul Shanley, who decided to set up a Facebook page to reunite the lost dog with his owner.
The sales and marketing manager also made a poster and put it in the front window of his house.
"I know how my daughter feels about her teddies, and I could tell it had been cuddled," he said.
Mr Shanley's Facebook page attracted 20 "likes", however, it was not until a leaflet distributor spotted both posters that Mr Shanley and Ms Groves were introduced.
The woman gave Mr Shanley a contact number for William and his mother before the two were reunited the following Tuesday.
Miss Groves said: "When Teddy was found he was over the moon".
