All dogs in Britain will be fitted with microchips which contain their owner’s details, under cross party plans designed to track family pets.

Owners will be forced to install the microchip containing a barcode that can store their pet’s name, breed, age and health along with their own address and phone number.

The barcode’s details would then be stored on a national database which local councils could access in a bid to easily identify an owner’s pet.

The new scheme, supported by the Tories and Labour, is designed to curb the trade in stolen dogs, prevent the use of animals in anti-social or violent incidents and reduce the record number of stray dogs being found on British streets.

If an owner failed to insert a chip, at an estimated cost of about £10, they could be fined or face the possibility of having their pet taken away.

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