A dog whose owners say is a lookalike for Prince William and Kate's puppy inspired a tear-jerking meet-up for dognapping victims.

Jodie Ferrier bought her three-year-old son Ethan a puppy cocker spaniel, but the pooch was stolen from their home in Leatherhead Road, Chessington in April.

She said Fern was a lookalike for Lupo, the dog owned by Kate Middleton and Prince William, although there is no suggestion the Royal couple stole her dog.

With some dogs costing many hundreds of pounds to buy, there have been reports in recent years of criminals increasingly targeting areas popular with dog owners such as Nonsuch Park.

Entertainer Lionel Blair was reduced to tears in 2006 when his dog Florence vanished in the park, the victim of a suspected dognapping.

Fern, who was microchipped, was reported missing to police but the mother-of-one was shocked to find out how much of a regular occurrence dognapping has become.

Ms Ferrier added: “It was massively upsetting. I didn’t even realise before that there was such an issue with dog theft.

"The meeting was really positive. There were a lot of questions and comments. It was good for information sharing.

“We had two victims of dog theft come and tell their stories. It was very emotional.

"There was not a dry eye in sight. My three year old son still asks me every day if Fern is coming back."

More than 50 dog lovers and community police officers attended the awareness event at Byhurst Farm in Malden Rushett on Sunday afternoon.

The group made £100 for the Tailwaggers club trust in Crawley from cupcake donations on the day. Another meeting will be scheduled for later this year.