Winchester Cathedral chick crash-lands in couple's garden

The peregrine chick, which has been named Lucky, is safely back at Winchester Cathedral

A fledgling peregrine falcon has been rescued after it crash-landed in a couple's back garden.

The six-week-old bird of prey left its nest on the ledge of Winchester Cathedral for its inaugural flight early on Saturday morning.

But things did not go according to plan and the female chick ended up in the garden of a house 100m (328ft) away.

The bird was rescued by two vergers and ornithologists Keith Betton and Dave Palmer.

Mr Betton, who is chairman of Hampshire Ornithological Society, said the couple spotted the female chick on their wheelbarrow and called a wildlife hospital who in turn called the society.

Later in the day and having mastered the art of flying, Lucky showed off on the roof of the cathedral

He said: "I'm inclined to name it 'Lucky'. Had we not persuaded it to come out from the brambles it would have starved."

Each year the vergers have to collect fledging falcons which have crash-landed close to the cathedral.

Peregrine falcons have lived at the cathedral since 2011, the current pair took up residence in 2017 after the police headquarters in Romsey Road was demolished.

Mr Betton said: "To the peregrine falcon, the cathedral looks like a nice, big cliff ledge.

"The police headquarters used to be the highest point of town, but when it came down they came to the cathedral and they're living on the north side, just below the rose window."

While the falcons are not fitted with tracking devices, they are tagged so they can be identified in future.