A CUMBRIAN dog sitting business has been recognised in a recent awards ceremony.

Alison Quigley was awarded with 'Newcomer of the Year' for her work with Barking Mad at a recent conference in Windermere.

Barking Mad offer dog owners a 'home-from-home' for their pet pooches while they go on holiday.

When she started with Barking Mad in the September of last year, Alison was initially nervous.

Managing Director of Barking Mad, Lee Dancy, said: "Immediately after training Alison was daunted by the prospect of finding customers and hosts.

She needn’t have been, in no time at all she was up and running with fantastic five star reviews on TrustPilot."

Just weeks after joining the Barking Mad team, Cumbria was hit by flooding and Barking Mad have said Alison handled the situation brilliantly.

"She worked tirelessly to ensure she was able to support customers, hosts and local residents in the midst of extreme conditions, often driving for miles out of her way due to road closures," Lee said. "Alison’s positive ‘can do attitude’ is working and delivering fantastic results across the region."

Alison is 'delighted' to have received the award.

She said: "I'm so pleased. It's just a great way of home boarding dogs. I couldn't do it without the hosts."