IT'S an old excuse - but Ben Parker's dog really did eat his homework.

Student Ben was furious when his pet boxer Ruby chewed up a tiny computer disc drive where all his work was saved.

The two-year-old dog destroyed hours of the mature student's A level and NVQ course work.

Ben, 25, of Rainton Grove, Redbrook, had saved many hours and thousands of words worth of History and English A level course work on his 'USB stick' drive, as well as NVQ project work.

But Ruby's curiosity - and powerful jaws - destroyed all the hard work.

Ben said: "I was out at the time. My mum said 'You know your USB drive? What was on it?' "I said 'Everything! Why?'

"She hadn't actually digested it, just chewed it to bits. It was up on my windowsill in my bedroom so I don't know how she got hold of it.

"I was severely annoyed to say the least. I thought about finding a good taxidermist to get her stuffed, but it's hard to stay mad at those puppy dog eyes for long."

He took the mangled disc drive to PC World to see if they could retrieve the lost work, but there was nothing they could do and the drive was thrown away.

Ben, who works at the Travellers Rest pub at Pogmoor, is due to finish his A levels this year.

Luckily he had made an early start and was on target with all his work. It is not due in until Easter, but he is left with lots of catching up to do.