A three-force police unit which appealed for help from members of the public to rename a crimefighting canine has announced the results of the online poll.

The Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire dog unit needed a new name for Duke, one of the new recruits who joined the team from a rescue centre in Devon, because there was already a Duke on the latest training course for dogs and their handlers.

Fans of the unit’s Facebook page, which launched on Monday, were asked to choose their favourite name from a shortlist of nine.

Voting officially closed at 3.30pm on Friday and after the results were totted up the springer spaniel has been renamed Charlie.

More than 1,500 people took part in the vote and Charlie was a clear winner with 377 votes, sweeping 25 per cent of the total vote. Buzz was in second place with 242 votes and Yoda in third, with 192 votes cast.

Charlie and his handler are continuing to make excellent progress on the course, which hopes to develop its attendees into proactive drug detection dog teams.

A spokesman said: “We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who took part in the vote and got involved with the debate over the renaming process on its Facebook page and Twitter account over the last few days.”

Further news, updates, photos and videos will be shared on the team’s Facebook and Twitter accounts and they can be accessed by visiting www.facebook.com/BCHPoliceDogs and www.twitter.com/dogpolicebCH.