A BOOK illustrated by Bill Mather from Burbage has started to get a cult following with dog owners from as far away as California, Canada and South Africa.

And as a result, a border terrier called Stanley has had to have a stamp made of his paw print to cope with the demand for signed copies of the novel called Dear Clementina.

It is the first book Mr Mather, a father-of-two who runs Westcourt Bottom B&B with his wife, has illustrated and he teaches drawing, painting and sculpture at his studio in Burbage and at the White Horse bookshop in Marlborough, as well as at Marlborough College Summer School.

The book written by Colin Burke consists of a series of letters from Stanley to another border terrier puppy, Clementina, with who he plays in the local park in Manchester. When Stanley went in to have 'the snip' Clementina's owner emailed to ask after his health and Mr Burke just spoofed a bit of a letter back, and Dear Clementina was born.

“This is the first book I’ve illustrated and it took about 4 weeks,” said Mr Mather, who has three dogs and a pig.

“I loved doing it and would relish another to do.”

Before turning his hand to art Mr Mather previously directed TV commercials, short films and music videos and also won awards for works with Dire Straits and Tina Turner.

It was by chance that Mr Burke was looking for an artists to do the book’s illustrations and his artist wife happened to be staying at Mr Mather’s B&B at the time. She asked for his advice and it went from there.

“With just a few strokes of the pen, Bill created the cover for the book and went on to provide pictures to sprinkle throughout it,” said Mr Burke.

“And whilst you cannot tell a book by its cover, Bill's representation of Stanley has received rave reviews from as far afield as the North America, the Philippines and South Africa, and I've just despatched a copy to a reader in Japan."

The book can be purchased from Amazon on kindle and in paperback.