A man has found a novel hobby for a dog his late wife bought to keep him company before she lost her battle against cancer – urban sledding.

Peter Sewell has been training his 10-month-old husky, Timber, to pull him along on a specially-made scooter. The sport is also known as dog joring.

They have so far clocked speeds of up to 15mph on a path along a canal bank near their home in Alder Close, Sheerness.

The 61-year-old says his pet did not take much convincing when he strapped it in for the first time. “You put the lead on him and away he goes,” he said. “You don’t have to tell him to run or anything. Being a husky, they like to run.

“They’re very loving dogs. I can’t fault him. The only problem is they moult a lot. I take him for a walk every day and we try the scooter about once a month but we’ll do it more often as he gets older.”

Mr Sewell got the idea to try joring after reading about it online. He said: “I thought it was a good way to give him a bit of exercise. I had him on a normal push bike at first but that’s a bit unstable.”

The former Thamesteel worker then purchased a Pawtrekker dog scooter, which came with a pulling lead and speedometer, from eBay for £250. Luckily, it also has brakes.

In November, we reported how Mr Sewell was at his wife Carol’s side when she died at The Wisdom Hospice in Rochester.

The 58-year-old had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and she lost her fight with the disease a month before a planned ceremony for the couple to renew their wedding vows.