A BIRD in the hand was certainly well worth it when Whitefield firefighters rescued a stricken fledgling starling.

The bird had become trapped in a wall cavity of a house at Manchester Road, Whitefield.

Occupiers called in the fire brigade after hearing constant squawking coming from the bathroom wall.

It is believed the bird had originally nested in the loft but later tumbled down into the wall cavity.

When firefighters attended, they discovered that luckily the bird had dropped to a level next to a ventilation hole.

The ventilation cover was broken before firefighter Stephen Hughes reached in and rescued the fledgling.

A fire spokesman said: "This was just a very young starling, too young to fly."

The bird was later passed on to a vet for a check-up following Monday's (May 11) rescue.

Previous news story

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.