Two weeks after police dog Bruce was put to sleep, handler PC Peter Tattum has a replacement.

He's delighted with Merckx, named after the legendary Belgian cyclist who triumphed often in the Tour de France.

Let's hope PC Tattum and his new dog become a formidable duo for sniffing out trouble in Brighton.

But he won't forget Bruce and neither will many readers of The Argus who were shocked when he was put down by the force.

Although he failed a safety test after biting off part of a teenage boy's ear in a Saturday night incident, Bruce should have been allowed to survive.

Even if he was not fit to serve any more in the force, he should have been given to one of the many people happy to look after him.

This incident did Sussex Police a lot of harm just when they were starting to recover from the crises of the past few years.

At least they will think twice before putting down any other police dogs which fail safety tests.