An animal-loving teenager who died from skin cancer is to have a trophy named after her.

Rachael Atkinson died on May 16, aged 17, four years after she was diagnosed.

The Rachael Atkinson Cup will be presented for the first time next month at the Eastbourne and District branch of Canine Concern's dog show.

Organiser Barbara Gasson, said: "Rachael always entered the dog show, she was a real dog person.

"When Rachael died her mother asked if we could name a cup after her.

"I asked her if she wouldn't mind if I brought the cup instead of making a donation to one of her charities and she agreed."

The charity takes dogs to visit people in hospitals, care homes and hospices who are separated from their own pets.

The 10in high chrome cup will stand on a black plinth, engraved with Rachael's name.

It will be awarded to the best junior handler aged between 13 and 16, a category Rachael, of Erica Close, Eastbourne, often entered with Springer Spaniel Skye.

Skye was picked from Battersea Dogs Home by the family a year after Rachael was diagnosed with cancer.

Her grandmother Daphne Greenall said the brown and white puppy gave Rachael much comfort during her illness.

Mrs Greenall, 70, of Willingdon Road, Eastbourne, said: "Rachael started training Skye at dog training classes in Berwick. At first she wasn't really sure but they became joined at the hip. She said she could talk to Skye and he wouldn't answer back.

"She said he listened to her. He always used to sleep on her bed at night."

Rachael, a former Cavendish School pupil, was diagnosed with the condition after mother Jeanette became suspicious of a small mole on the back of her knee.

After battling the disease for four years, the cancer spread, leading to her death.

She left behind a brother Christopher, 20, mother Jeanette and father Ian.

The dog show will be held at Langney Community Centre, Etchingham Road, Eastbourne, on October 6. Money raised from the event will go to Canine Concern.