A former model who had her face bitten off by her dog a year ago is relieved that her ordeal is coming to an end.

Princess Goodwin, 51, had her face savaged by her pet greyhound Ollie as she slept.

The dog sank its teeth into her nose and cheeks.

She was rushed by ambulance to the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead for emergency surgery on her face.

Mrs Goodwin spoke of her ordeal in The Argus and has been recovering at home.

Now, a year after the incident, she says she has “lost track of the number of operations she has undergone”.

She said: “My face is basically back to how it used to be – or close enough.

“I have to hand it to the hospital and my surgeon Darryl Coombes – he has just chipped away at the repair job over and over again and the results are fantastic. I'm so pleased and relieved.”

Despite the horrific injuries Mrs Goodwin, of Jewel Walk, Crawley, said she was never beaten by the disfigurement and would encourage others in a similar position to “stay strong”.

She said: “I never hid away or stayed inside worrying what people would think.

“Yes, people stared at me but I was strong.

“You either need to stay strong yourself or surround yourself with people who support you.

“It doesn't upset me or make me sad to think, on this day last year I had no face and a head the size of a football – yes it was traumatic – but it proves you can overcome anything.”

Despite the attack the mother-of-two says she's not scared of dogs though she advises people not to let them sleep at the bottom of their beds as they can be unpredictable.

Mrs Goodwin, who retired from modelling three years ago, still owns an eight-year-old lurcher called Bumpi, but six-year-old Olli was put down soon after the incident.

An animal psychologist has suggested the dog may have been having a nightmare.

Mrs Goodwin has her next operation on Thursday.