A PET shop which boasts its own line of dog food has scooped a top award.

Dunbar Pet Food and Wildbird Care was among the winners at the Edinburgh Business Awards.

Robin McEwan, who founded the business nearly 35 years ago, was delighted to win the best pet care business for Edinburgh and the Lothians.

He said: “I thought I would go along to the awards for a look and all the different sections came up – cafes, restaurants and all different shops.

“When it came to my section, I had my back to the screen and somebody said ‘You better look round quick, there is your name!.

“There were six of us in for it and I won it.

“I was chuffed to bits because that is 35 years that I have been here now. To win something like that is quite an honour, especially when there are big shops in Edinburgh and round about.

“I know I do give a good service and have customers from all over the country: Fife, West Lothian, Lanarkshire, the Borders.”

Robin set up the business, on the town’s West Port, within weeks of retiring from the police force after working in Haddington as a constable.

A love of animals and a chance meeting in Dunbar ultimately saw him setting up his own business.

The 75-year-old told the Courier: “I had moved to Thorntonloch and had a small holding.

“I always kept rabbits, hens, ducks and geese and so I was wandering about Dunbar one day and saw a girl from the lawyer’s office putting up a sign on the West Port.

“I asked how much it was for the shop and she said offers over £10,000. I told her I would have it by lunchtime.

“I went home and at lunchtime I got a call in the house from my lawyer saying I had the shop.

“Within a couple of weeks, I was up and running.

“At the time, there was nobody selling pet food in Dunbar, nothing concentrated, and I got the shop organised, got suppliers and started my wee shop not having a clue what I was doing and learning as I went along.”

The business has proven so successful that Robin has bought a dedicated warehouse in the town to stock sufficient quantities of products to meet his customers’ orders.

He not only sells pet accessories such as dog treats, leads and beds, but also pet foods, including his own label Lammermuir Crunch, which is produced down south and sold in the shop.