Pigeon a right royal help

Pigeon clubs may have turned to the Queen for help over a rent row on bird sheds, but one Shropshire racing club has already been given a royal helping hand - after receiving a racing pigeon from Her Majesty's loft.

The royal homing pigeon, which has been affectionately dubbed Queenie, was donated from the Royal lofts to help raise cash for the St George's racing pigeon club in Telford.

The special acquisition comes after champion pigeon racer John Preece, from Red Lake, approached the Queen's loft manager, Carlos Napolitano, for help in funding his club.

Mr Preece had previously met Mr Napolitana on several trips to South Africa to watch the Million Dollar Race in Sun City.

"I said 'Mate, we could do with a young 'un off you to auction because we need money, and unless we do we could go to the wall'," Mr Preece said. "It shows the commitment from the top to the bottom."

Despite the cheeky approach, Mr Preece said he was surprised when he got a reply from the royal lofts saying they could offer him a young pigeon to auction as a way of boosting club finances.

A delighted Mr Preece commissioned a courier to deliver the royal pigeon around 200 miles from the royal lofts in Norfolk to the club.

When it went under the hammer last week, Mr Preece was determined to get his bird and submitted the winning bid - although he was keeping tight-lipped about how much he paid.