Newspaper editor presents himself as Dave the dog

James Hardaker is a page editor for a local weekly newspaper group. He works for the South East Target group in Lincolnshire.

The 27 years old is also known as "Dave the dog". He dresses up like a 7ft canine to support Skegness charity, Keith's Rescue Dogs .

James said: "It's all in the name of a good cause, and it's fun – I can act the fool in public and no one knows who I am!

"When you've sat at a computer all week, trying to make 500 words fit into a 300-word box, a bit of light-hearted charity work is always welcome."

James who is a trustee of the registered charity turns himself into a dog known as ‘Dave the Dog’. He wears a dog costume that was made by his mum Joan.

Earlier this month in a charity's Christmas Fair, Dave raised more than £2,400.

Recently James won a sought after slot on Radio 1 to talk about charity, which was aired earlier this week.

James took part in the station's MyTunes feature, where listeners choose the music on JK and Joel's Early Breakfast Show for half an hour, and was able to chat with presenters in between songs.

He said, "I sent in my list of songs as a bit of fun really, and the next thing I knew I was invited to take part. JK is an animal lover as well, so he sympathised with the cause."

Glyn Belsher, who is the editor at the Target Group, said, "I never thought I would be working with Santa Paws. After seeing his pictures I wonder if we made the right choice for page editor….."