Has a new festive tradition been formed in Ledbury, based on the needs and social nature of four-legged friends and, in particular, dachshunds?

The market town has it's own dachshund group - called, appropriately enough, The Ledbury Dachshund Group, and there are already plenty of members, of both the human and the short-legged canine kind.

Because of this, the group recently organised a Christmas Walk, the second in a row to take place around leafy Eastnor Park.

It was attended, impressively, by "sixteen dachshunds and their families", which was considerably up on numbers in 2018, when the walk first happened.

This year, some of the dogs even got into the spirit of the occasion by wearing Santa coats, to keep out winter chills.

Dachshund owner, former Ledbury mayor, Spencer Lane said: "We now have about 38 members. We set up our group because these little dogs are hounds and they like to go out all together."

And there is every sign of the group expanding, with members from Malvern now joining.

But what is the appeal of dachshunds?

Mr Lane said: "The dachshunds are loyal and nice small dogs, and they come in different varieties, and they are can be very independent minded.

"Eastnor Park is accessible and easy, and we go at a slow pace. It's lovely to see them all together."

The unusual group was formed just over a year ago and its activities look set to increase.

A charity event is on the cards, with details still to be finalised and announced, and a Sunday Summer Walk is also being planned for 2020.

As yet, the group has no regular meetings, but these are also something being looked at for the future.

Mr Lane said meetings might take place in local pubs.

The group already has a Facebook page, and Mr Lane added, "if any local dachshund owners would like to join us, they would be most welcome".