A BLACKBURN fisherman has told how he came across a pelican during a recent fishing trip.

Ian Reid, of Heys Lane, was astonished to find he had a new companion as he fished on the River Ribble near to the Tickled Trout Hotel on the outskirts of Preston.

Mr Reid's new big billed buddy turned out to be a pelican, a type of large bird not normally associated with the cooler Lancashire climate.

There had been various sightings of the pelican throughout the county before Mr Reid had his brief encounter a couple of weekends ago.

Mr Reid, 37, was surprised as the large bird was happy to sit by him on the bank.

He said: "It was just waiting for me to catch stuff and then I was feeding it fish while it sat by the side of me. It had its bill on my knee, I couldn't believe it."

His father Eric, 78, was in disbelief when his son told him what he saw. He said: "I couldn't believe it when Ian told me. I've been fishing for over 60 years and I've never heard of anthing such as this before."

The pelican proved to be so tame that Mr Reid was able to take photographs of it on his mobile phone.

With their large bills used for scooping up water and fish, white pelicans such as this are usually found in warmer climates such as the Mediterranean.

Wildlife experts believe that this pelican had escaped from a wildlife sanctuary, possibly in Germany or Holland.

John Marchant of the British Trust for Ornithology said: "It is rare to see pelicans in the UK. There are two or three in the country at the moment but there hasn't been any recorded for the last eight to 10 years.

"There have been two pelicans sighted in the UK recently and the one in Lancashire left the county four or five days ago and headed for Northumberland."