Britain’s oldest dog Yentl dies aged 24

Yentl, a Jack Russell-Collie cross would have been 168 human years when he died

Charlie and Marlene Martin bought Yentl as a puppy for £15 (ITV News )

A dog, believed to be the oldest in Britain, has died aged 24.

Yentl, a Jack Russell-Collie cross who belonged to a couple in Bude, Cornwall, would have been 168 human years when he died.

Charlie and Marlene Martin bought Yentl as a puppy for £15 after his previous owner threatened to shoot him if he could not find a home for the dog.

The couple bought Yentl in 1991 and his name was inspired by the 1983 Barbra Streisand film, Mr Martin told ITV News.

“I said to my missus I'm going to call him Yentl,” said Mr Martin “I've named him after a Barbara Streisand film, so that's what I named him and that's the name he responds to all the time.”

Mr and Mrs Martin’s front room is brimming with pictures of their beloved pet. They also display the rosettes he won at various dog shows, the Telegraph reports.

A 25-year-old Jack Russell from Somerset was the last dog previously believed to be the oldest in Britain, which died in 2014.

In April, Maggie the Kelpie, thought to be the oldest dog in the world died at the age of 30.

Maggie was over 200 in human years, and a contender for the oldest dog in the world, but Mr McLaren had lost the original paperwork for the dog, meaning that her age could not be independently verified.

Officially, the title of the oldest dog in the world still belongs to Bluey, an Australian cattle-dog from Rochester in Victoria, which reached 29 years and five months.

According to the Guinness Book of Records his owner bought him as a puppy in 1910 and he grew up to work among the sheep and cattle until he was put down in November 1939.