DESPITE being featured on a national television show, the search for a missing Kidderminster dog continues - but the distraught owner is refusing to give up hope.

Deborah Lacey appeared on the Richard and Judy show last Thursday, appealing for help in finding her tan whippet lurcher, Holly, who went missing from her garden three months ago.

Her plight had been featured in the Shuttle/Times & News a week earlier.

Mrs Lacey said this week that although the right person had not yet made contact with her, animal communicators - who claim to be tracking Holly via a telepathic link - were convinced she was still alive.

They believed the six-year-old dog was being cared for by an elderly couple who did not know she was lost and Mrs Lacey was desperate for them to learn of her heartbreak.

The 42-year-old has gone blind in one eye since Holly disappeared and believes her blindness is due to stress.

Despite having an operation to restore her vision almost two weeks ago, she will not know whether it has been a success for three months.

She explained she had received around 10 phone calls from people claiming to have seen her pet in the last fortnight but nothing had come of them.

When asked whether she was beginning to lose hope of finding her, she replied with a resounding "no", and said: "We're still hopeful and will follow up anything at all."

A crew from the Richard and Judy show were filming on location in Kidderminster last Wednesday, knocking on doors to see if any residents had seen Holly.

Roving presenter and former Hollyoaks star, Terri Dwyer, also interviewed Shuttle/Times & News reporter, Becky Parkinson, who had previously picked up the trail and told her: "I feel for Deborah because she's absolutely devastated."

The following day, Mrs Lacey was interviewed by the show's hosts and described the live interview as "unreal".

She said: "It was a fascinating experience but I just wish it had been in different circumstances."

There is now a £1,000 reward for Holly's safe return because the Channel 4 show has matched the £500 reward already put up by Mrs Lacey.

Anyone with information on Holly's whereabouts should contact Mrs Lacey on 07753 856795.