THE world's fastest bird, which was thought to have been wiped out in the North-East, is making a comeback.

Peregrine falcons came perilously close to extinction in the 1960s, when the pesticide DDT devastated bird of prey populations throughout the country.

The crash saw the bird, which can reach speeds of 180mph when diving on prey, die out in the North-East and North Yorkshire, but a small population clung on in the more remote parts of the Lake District.

Today, there are more than 100 breeding pairs in Cumbria and they have been steadily pushing eastwards across the Pennines to colonise neighbouring counties.

Now, ornithologists in the North-East and North Yorkshire are reporting increasing sightings of the bird, which makes its nest on craggy rock faces, and is increasingly moving into disused quarries.

Peregrines are also nesting on man-made structures, such as electricity pylons.

This summer, a peregrine was spotted flying over Hartlepool, and there have been a number of sightings in North Yorkshire and North-umberland.

The Summer Atlas of the Breeding Birds of County Durham, recently published by Durham Bird Club, says that there are five breeding pairs in the county.

Andy Bunten, regional manager for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said: "Peregrines are becoming more common which is excellent news, because they are such fantastically spectacular birds.

"They do appear to be on the increase, and heading back towards the numbers which we had before."

However, the return has not been welcomed by everyone, because the pigeon fancier lobby is concerned that the falcons take prize birds. But ornithologists say that peregrines only take the weakest pigeons and that a fit racer can normally outmanoeuvre a falcon.

Durham Bird Club says other threats include raids on nests by egg collectors and persecution by gamekeepers.

The club has organised an evening lecture on the bird. The Temperley Lecture commemorates the 50th anniversary of the publication of George Temperley's History of the Birds of Durham.

It will be held in the Appleby Lecture Theatre, at the University of Durham science site, on Thursday, October 18, at 7.30pm.

Guest speaker will be Terry Pickford, of the North West Raptor Group, which has devoted the last 35 years to helping the bird recover in Cumbria.