newswatcher
11th Oct 2002, 14:38
From the BBC(11/10):
"Photographs of a stuffed seagull nabbed from its Cornwall pub perch have ruffled a few feathers in the top flight of the RAF.
Photographs sent from Norfolk to landlord Mike Sanders show the bird, mascot of the Phoenix pub at Watergate Bay, poised on an RAF missile. Mr Sanders has received a letter and two photographs - one of which showed Ethel perched on a Rapier missile.
One of them reads: "Training as a missile operator today - I can see the pub from here."
An accompanying letter says: "Dear staff, I got bored sitting on the fruit machine so I've gone on holiday for a year."
After swift detective work, Ethel was traced to her holiday home at RAF Marham in Norfolk. The Phoenix is close to RAF St Mawgan, which recently hosted a month-long training exercise for about 1,500 personnel from across the country.
Base spokesman, Squadron Leader Dave Webster, said that the matter was being taken very seriously.
"We took steps at the highest level to get that bird back into the pub," he said.
Squadron Leader Webster said Ethel had been tracked to the tactical armament squadron at RAF Marham.
"The station commander at RAF St Mawgan intervened personally to ensure that Ethel gets back," he said.
"The culprit is making arrangements to have it sent back to the pub as soon as possible," an RAF Marham spokesman said.
Mr Sanders, 37, said he did not want anyone punished for Ethel's disappearance.
But the pub landlord made headlines himself as a 23-year-old when he took a gnome, kidnapped from Hutton near Weston-Super-Mare, sending a series of postcards from all over the world.
"I suppose it's poetic justice really," he said."
"Photographs of a stuffed seagull nabbed from its Cornwall pub perch have ruffled a few feathers in the top flight of the RAF.
Photographs sent from Norfolk to landlord Mike Sanders show the bird, mascot of the Phoenix pub at Watergate Bay, poised on an RAF missile. Mr Sanders has received a letter and two photographs - one of which showed Ethel perched on a Rapier missile.
One of them reads: "Training as a missile operator today - I can see the pub from here."
An accompanying letter says: "Dear staff, I got bored sitting on the fruit machine so I've gone on holiday for a year."
After swift detective work, Ethel was traced to her holiday home at RAF Marham in Norfolk. The Phoenix is close to RAF St Mawgan, which recently hosted a month-long training exercise for about 1,500 personnel from across the country.
Base spokesman, Squadron Leader Dave Webster, said that the matter was being taken very seriously.
"We took steps at the highest level to get that bird back into the pub," he said.
Squadron Leader Webster said Ethel had been tracked to the tactical armament squadron at RAF Marham.
"The station commander at RAF St Mawgan intervened personally to ensure that Ethel gets back," he said.
"The culprit is making arrangements to have it sent back to the pub as soon as possible," an RAF Marham spokesman said.
Mr Sanders, 37, said he did not want anyone punished for Ethel's disappearance.
But the pub landlord made headlines himself as a 23-year-old when he took a gnome, kidnapped from Hutton near Weston-Super-Mare, sending a series of postcards from all over the world.
"I suppose it's poetic justice really," he said."