A PUPPY called Bear has sniffed out the “biggest truffle in Sussex”.

The black autumn truffle could be worth up to £160 – but Bear’s owners Sebastian Wiczling 41, and his wife Becky might choose to eat it themselves.

The discovery – at a secret location – came as they were walking 14-month-old Bear.

It was the biggest they had dug up after just a few weeks of hunting, weighing a huge 161 grams.

The previous record was held by truffle hunter Melissa Waddingham, from Horsham, who found a 141g summer truffle in 2013.

The delicacy could be worth anywhere between £50 and £160 but the couple have no firm plans to sell.

Mr Wiczling, from Shoreham, who works in a delicatessen in Brighton, said: “I couldn’t believe it, we were so excited. We don’t know what we are going to do with it. I don’t know who would buy it. It is probably going to get eaten by us but we’ve got to decide pretty quick because they don’t last long.”

Bear, a Barbet, is from a successful breed of French truffle hunting champions.

The pair bought her from France and have been training her by hiding pieces of truffle in dog toys.

Mr Wiczling said: “We got our puppy a year ago and we have been scent training her.

“She is a French dog and they use them for truffle hunting in France. Her mother come second in the world dog show. We absolutely love Bear to bits. To keep her occupied, we have done scent training by hiding pieces of truffle inside a dog toy.

“She loves finding it so we took her for a walk and she just started finding truffles.”

Looking at market prices Mr Wiczling said the truffle could be worth up to £1 per gram, valuing the find at £161.

Truffles are an underground fungus that resemble irregular, rough-skinned potatoes. They are considered a culinary delicacy and found, especially in France, with the aid of dogs or pigs.