A DOG, which bears an uncanny resemblance to a popular Star Wars character, has sparked a community-wide search for his owner after he was found outside a school.

The Chewbacca lookalike, believed to be a Shih Tzu Griffon cross, was discovered by staff at Glenmoor and Winton Academies last week.

Receptionist Paula Allen looked after him until he could be taken to nearby Vets4Pets.

Since then, she has made a desperate effort to find the dog’s owner, putting up posters across the town, posting his picture on social media, and contacting all the local vets.

Although he is microchipped, the details have not been updated since his last owner from nine years ago.

“I am trying desperately to reunite this little dog with his owner,” Paula said.

“He’s a friendly little chap, everybody thinks he looks like Chewbacca, and he’s quite elderly – I would say between nine and 12-years-old.

“When I posted the details on Facebook, some commenters said he’d been seen in our car park the day before and around Wallisdown. People had tried to catch him without luck.

“Fortunately, when he was found at our school, I had him in a corner and just had to make friends with him before picking him up. He seemed to relax straight away and was really calm, and very thirsty.

“After taking him to Vets4Pets, who very kindly kept him safe over the weekend, he had to be taken on by the dog warden as no-one had claimed him.”

Paula said the dog’s plight highlighted the importance of microchipping and keeping contact information up to date.

“The previous owner doesn’t know the whereabouts of the owner that took the dog on all those years ago, which is so sad.

“What concerns me now is the fact that no-one has come looking for him. If the owner is elderly, perhaps, and not into social media, or able to walk about looking for him to see my posters, the little chap won’t be reunited.”

June Copeland-Trenwith, hospital manager at Vets4Pets Winton, said the appeal to find the dog’s owner had been shared widely on the surgery's Facebook page .

A spokesperson for Bournemouth council added “every effort” was being made to reunite him with his owner.

If no-one claims him by the beginning of next week, it is likely he will be taken into the care of a rescue centre.