CUSTOMS and Excise officers are taking legal advice after a convicted bird smuggler yesterday refused to hand over the last birds in his collection.

Last week, parrot breeder Harry Sissen lost his appeal to win back 144 of the world's rarest parrots, which had been seized following his conviction for smuggling three years ago.

A judge ordered that it was right for all the birds to be rehomed, including eight left in Mr Sissen's care.

Yesterday, Customs and Excise officers visited Mr Sissen at Cornhill Farm Estate, East Cowton, North Yorkshire, to see if he would comply with the court order to give up the remaining birds within seven days.

But a Customs spokesman said Mr Sissen had told them the birds were dead.

He said: "Mr Sissen said the birds were dead, but declined to provide any evidence of that,

"The officers then left the premises and we are seeking legal advice before taking any further action."

Mr Sissen said he had refused to hand over the birds, adding that he had taken them out of a freezer to show the officers they were dead.

He said: "The birds were very old and were not breeders, so there was no reason for me to tag them, but Customs also had not tagged them, so they had no proof that those birds were the ones covered by the court order.

"I was not going to hand them over without proof that they were entitled to take them."

He went on to say that many birds had died since being taken away from him, and that only three birds had been born, compared with almost 300 he could have bred in the three years since his conviction.