A bereaved dog owner who buried his dead border collie in his council flat garden has been ordered to exhume the body.

Lee Wills dug a grave outside his living room window and laid his beloved Bruno to rest just hours after the prized pet had died in his arms.

However, council officials rang him two days later and told him to dig up the animal because the authority operates a strict policy banning tenants from burying pets on its land.

Mr Wills, 41, said: “I’ve had Bruno for about 11 years and he’s helped me through some difficult times.

“He passed away at the weekend. I was holding him when he went. I wanted a resting place close to me so I could pay my respects.”

Mr Wills, who lives in a ground-floor flat with his mother in Cornwall Gardens, Canterbury, opted to inter Bruno in the communal gardens outside.

Just months before, residents had been sent letters from East Kent Housing – which runs the properties on behalf of the council – banning dog owners from walking their pets in the garden.

"I wanted a resting place close to me so I could pay my respects” - Lee Wills

Mr Wills said: “I never walked Bruno in those gardens after we got the letter. We always took him further afield.

“But what’s the possible harm after he’s passed away? He’s in the ground. He’s not bothering anyone.”

Mystery now surrounds Bruno’s final resting place, with Mr Wills’ mum Mary Hibbett claiming he had been hurriedly reburied at an undisclosed location nearby.

She did not want to reveal where the body had been moved, other than to say he was now in an orchard, with the farmers’ permission.

Bob Granville, head of operations for East Kent Housing, said: “We understand how important animals are to residents, however we don’t allow tenants to bury their pets in communal gardens because of the impact on others using the area.

“We have spoken to the family about this matter and they have reburied their dog, Bruno, on private land.

“We are a dog-friendly organisation and our tenants are allowed to walk their dogs in communal areas as long as they do not cause a nuisance to others.

“In this particular communal area, we have received complaints about the behaviour of dogs and that is why we asked residents to walk their dogs further away from the property.”

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