A chance sighting and a Facebook message helped a theatre company find a star for its latest production.

Guiseley Amateur Operatic Society had resigned itself to staging Oliver! without Sykes’ dog, Bullseye – because of the difficulties of finding a well-behaved and suitable canine.

But by chance, one of the society’s members posted a comment on Facebook after spotting a “perfect” dog in Guiseley.

His comment was seen by the animal’s owner Rick Greenwood, who starred in a GAOS production of Guys and Dolls last year.

Rick, who is taking a break from acting following the birth of his son Harry, has two Staffordshire Bull Terriers – and he brought one of them, Stella, along to Guiseley Theatre to meet the cast.

A spokesman said: “To start with, Stella was not sure what was going on, but once she had settled down she made her stage debut, walking on stage with the villainous Bill Sykes with aplomb.”

Oliver! runs at Guiseley Theatre from Monday until Saturday, March 1. Tickets are available from gaos.co.uk or the box office on (0113) 2506434