Owl rescued from Swavesey chimney after three days

An owl gave rescuers the run-around after apparently falling down a chimney and spending three days stuck in the flue behind a gas fire.

Alison Turian thought she had a sparrow or pigeon behind her fire in Swavesey, in Cambridgeshire, but when the flapping went on for days, she called in a gas company to dismantle her fire.

To everyone's surprise, a tawny owl popped out. It then escaped from a box, and flew around the bathroom.

Bird experts are now looking after it.

"I knew something was stuck down the chimney, and as I couldn't see anything behind the fire, I hoped it would get out, but the flapping became more frantic," teacher Ms Turian, said.

On Friday, three days after the flapping started, she called out gas engineers from local company Entire Group Ltd, who leapt to the bird's rescue, taking the fire to pieces.

Owner Mark Potter, said: "My colleague saw a big pair of eyes staring back at him, so he rang me for help."

"I thought I'd been hearing things, but the occasional 'twit twoo' now made complete sense," Ms Turian said.

The owl was safely removed and placed in a box in her bathroom.

"They hadn't sealed the box, as the owl needed air, but when I opened the door it had escaped and flown up on top of the shower curtain," she said.

"Then it came down and sat on the toilet seat.

"It didn't look too worried or concerned about everything it had been through."

The gas engineers returned to help her out, this time with a cat box, and managed to get the owl in that.

Ms Turian took the owl to the Raptor Foundation near St Ives, whose staff are currently looking after the bird.

The rescue centre's founder, Liz Blows, said tawny owls were "notorious" for getting stuck in chimneys and this one had probably been blown in by the wind.

She said the bird was underweight and being treated for a swelling to one wing.

It will be checked by experts from the British Trust for Ornithology before a decision about its release is taken.

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