Mr Jeffries the bassethound has had his ears insured for £30,000 after his owners discovered they are the longest in the world.

When we featured the 18-month-old dog in October, owner Phil Jeffries thought his pooch had the second longest ears in the country after his father, Biggles.

But he has since heard otherwise.

Mr Jeffries' father died about nine months ago, aged 15, leaving his dog's 12.5in ears the undisputed British record.

Then he received a call from Guinness World Records who confirmed Mr Jeffries' ears are actually the longest in the world.

Offers for film roles and advertisements began pouring in, and Mr Jeffries was taken by stretch limousine to several television chat shows. But he disgraced himself by being sick on the back seat.

Despite his distinctly unstarry behaviour, Phil, from Patcham, decided it was time to take care of those filmstar looks and insured his dog's ears for thousands.

Phil, 50, said: "Famous filmstars have certain parts of their bodies insured, like their bum or their legs, so it's a must for Mr Jeffries. That's his selling point because they make him so unusual and unique."

The pampered pooch himself could pose the biggest danger to his lugs as he is constantly standing on them, tripping over them and dangling them in his dog food.

He is getting used to his new-found celebrity status when he goes for walkies in Brighton.

Phil said: "We get recognised everywhere we go. I went to the park with him last night and it was pitch dark. This man came up and said, 'I know that dog - he's the famous one'.

"I used to take him to work with me, cleaning dogs in Bugsie's Mobile Dog Wash, but it's getting to the stage now where owners want to play with Mr Jeffries all the time. It makes it harder for me to get my job done."

Mr Jeffries' ears were officially measured by a vet at Grove Lodge Veterinary Hospital, Preston Drove, Brighton, on Saturday to enable the Guinness World Records researchers to add him to their 2004 edition.

Researcher Kim Lacey, said: "We've had people apply for it but often they think we break the category down into longest ears for each breed, when in fact we just have a category for longest dog ears.

"I've been waiting for a basset hound owner to contact me and Mr Jeffries has unusually long ears."

Phil and his partner, Jo Camilleria, intend to take their pet on a holiday to America next year to celebrate his achievement. They have also treated him to some luxury dog food and a new harness.

His dad, Biggles, who had 13.5in lobes, was the face of Hush Puppies shoes.