This loveable terrier has finally come of age - even though in dog years he is well over 100.

Leo, who is owned by David and Suzanne Payne, of Sportsman Farm, St Michael's, Tenterden, celebrated his 18th human year by having an emotional reunion with his first owners

Nick and Rosie Evelegh, who had not seen the birthday boy for 17 years, visited from Cranbrook for a party with champagne, fairy cakes, and, of course, doggy treats.

But he didn't have a taste of champagne, despite waiting so long to turn legal.

The plucky terrier was the only survivor of an attempted abortion in 1992 after his mother, a prize pedigree Norfolk called Liza, was impregnated by Snoopy a Jack Russell terrier who lived nearby in Frittenden and was regarded as the stud of the neighbourhood.

So Leo was sold for a bottle of brandy to the Payne family and now lives a life of ease.

He has never been taken for a walk as Sportsman Farm, from where Mr Payne runs a family accountancy firm, covers several dozen acres.

And Dazy the family's cat, who is only in her early teens, helps him catch rabbits in his old age. Leo is the oldest dog in the care of vets Pierson Stewart and Partners, Tenterden.

Mrs Payne said: "He was quite quiet at his birthday celebration, as you would expect. He used to live with three dogs but he's the last one standing now."

Factfile

• A giant Galapagos land tortoise, Harriet,is believed to be the oldest animal on earth - held by Darwin and born when slavery was still legal in Britain, she is 180 years old
• Leo also has a long way to go before being named the oldest living organism. That record goes to 250-million-year-old bacteria found in ancient sea salt beneath Carlsbad, New Mexico

* Kent's oldest pet will be decided (with a tongue implanted in cheek) using a mathematical formula based on the animal's age and the average life expectancy for the species.