SIGHTINGS of an exotic visitor to the Yorkshire Dales have been reported. A large blue, green and red bird, believed to be a Macaw, has been spotted on numerous occasions in Wensleydale.

Steven Scott, 26, of Leyburn, saw the bird while clay pigeon shooting in fields on the edge of town last Wednesday.

He said: "It flew overhead and everybody stared in amazement. It was as big as an eagle." Other sightings have been reported in Finghall, Askrigg and on the banks of the River Ure at Wensley.

A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said the bird was probably an escapee.