A BIRD of Prey caused a scare on Saturday when it went missing at the Timperley Country Fair.

Sherman, a 20-week-old Lanner Falcon, flew off during a display at the family event at the Larkhill Centre on Thorley Drive on September 10.

The juvenile bird, who is still in training and has never flown free before, flew off with a leash still attached to his foot, which could have proved fatal.

For the next 30 hours, owner Ray Pickup frantically searched for Sherman fearing his leash could have become tangled in a tree and harmed him.

The 40-year-old from Altrincham said: “We spent all that Saturday day and night looking for him, putting posters up and going on Twitter - everything we could think of.

“We were worried and I really didn’t think we would get him back.”

But thankfully, a member of the public who had seen one of Ray’s posters in Timperley spotted Sherman in a tree when cycling near Wendover Road in Brooklands.

Simon McKenna hurriedly cycled back to Timperley to get the phone number off a poster, before going back to Brooklands to wait with the bird.

Sherman was eventually rescued by a tree surgeon, who bundled him in a bag and handed him back to a relieved Ray.

“He was in really good condition but was very hungry. We are so grateful to have him back,” Ray added.

Councillor Neil Taylor, one of the organisers and volunteers at the fair, helped with the search operation and said everybody was concerned about Sherman.

“The birds of prey are quite spectacular and a very popular attraction and I am delighted he has been returned safely,” he said.