A DOG has been put down after being identified as a dangerous pit bull terrier.

Owner Donna Whittle, aged 25, said she cried all night after being told that six-year-old Gnasher would have to be destroyed.

The mother-of-four had been without her beloved pet for two months when it was impounded by a dog warden in January after escaping through the gate at her Pimlett Road home, Hall i'th' Wood.

She had been told the dog was a cross-bred Staffordshire terrier when she took him from a friend.

Bolton Council called in an expert on breed identification after concerns were raised that Gnasher was really a banned pit bull and the dog remained in council kennels while the identification was made.

A decision on his future was delayed as experts had been swamped with requests from councils to identify the exact breed of dogs following a pit bull attack which killed five-year-old Ellie Lawrenson in St Helens on New Year's Day "Being without him for that long just killed me," said Mrs Whittle. "I had no choice but to accept what the council said. I was crying my eyes out.

"They destroyed him for having pit bull in him, not because he had a temper. He had never bitten or attacked anyone."

Mrs Whittle got another puppy, a Staffordshire-collie cross called Zak, after Gnasher was put down last week.

She said: "Having Zak will help but he'll never replace Gnasher."

A Bolton Council spokesman said: "We can confirm that the dog was identified by an expert as a pit bull type which is a prohibited breed under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and that the owner signed the dog over to the council.

"The Act states that it is an offence to be in possession of a banned breed of dog unless the owner has an exemption and that certain conditions are met."

The spokesman said the council would not be prosecuting Mrs Whittle.