The bird escaped from its cage the weekend before last leaving its owner, 16-year-old, Natalie Dove devastated.

After her father, Kevin Dove, contacted the Mail in a bid to try and find the bird, he received a call from a homeowner less than a mile away from his Hirdman Grove home in Hartlepool.

The woman had seen the bird in her garden and had managed to capture it and got in touch.

The former process technician said his daughter, who has had the cockatiel, Keith, for eight years was delighted by his return.

He said: "She is over the moon. She was really upset. She thought she was never going to see it again."

"I think it was definitely down to the Mail that it was found."

Keith escaped when 50-year-old Kevin tried to bring the cage inside the house, accidentally knocking it against the French doors and the cage door sprung open.

Kevin's wife, Sonia, 41, a dinner lady at Dyke House School, took the call last Thursday evening and collected the bird from Brancepath Walk, in the King Oswy area of Hartlepool, the next day.

Kevin said: "My wife was very surprised, when you think it's gone you think that's it."

Kevin said he knew it was the correct bird because it can say his wife's name.

He said: "He seems all right.

"He was a bit shook up but seems to have calmed down over the weekend."