Police catch fugitive bird during rush-hour traffic

Police in Barnstaple, north Devon, were called to apprehend an unusual suspect - a fugitive emu roaming the town.

Residents in the area alerted the police. Acting Sergeant Zoe Parnell said she had just began her shift at 7am, when she got a call that an ostrich was on the loose in Riddell Avenue - a residential street in the town.

“I thought it was a wind-up," she said. "I thought we'd arrive and it would be a turkey or something like that."

Sgt Parnell knew that she had to stop it reaching the main road, where the bird could have caused rush-hour chaos. "It was trying to get into people's houses. Obviously it was finding that difficult, and would try the next one. I must admit that while I'm not normally scared of birds, I was a bit nervous with this one," she said.

Despite the emu being in a "state of panic", police managed to get the creature into the patrol car, where it stayed for half an hour before an animal ambulance arrived, after the police contacted the owner.

Like many others apprehended by the police, the emu was not happy. "There was a lot of wee-ing and poo-ing and flying feathers in the back of the car," said Sgt Parnell. "It's going to have to be specially cleaned."

She thought about giving the bird a drink from her water container "but it was a bit distressed so I thought it was better to leave it", she said.

"It's been the talk of the town. Everyone was taking photos."