CAMERAS flashed. Reporters crowded round, eager for a glimpse of little Leo.

But the new arrival snapped at the Prime Minister's North-East home was not baby Leo, but another recently-christened youngster.

Leo the little owl was named after being rescued by the armed police officers who guard the Tony Blair's constituency home in Trimdon Colliery, County Durham.

The stricken bird almost sparked a security alert after it was found by a patrol, rustling about in nearby undergrowth after apparently hitting overhead wires.

Durham Constabulary, which provides a 24-hour armed guard for the premier's residence, found the owl the day after after the latest addition to the Blair household was christened in Sedgefield.

The officer who found Leo early on Sunday morning, PC Kevin Atkinson, 41, said: "We were driving past and I saw two big eyes staring out from the long grass at the side of the road."

At first it was thought the bird was a young tawny owl, but it was confirmed as a little owl by the force's wildlife officer, Sergeant Eddie Bell.

He set the six-inch-high owl's broken leg with a tiny splint and tape and administered a course of antibiotics.

Sgt Bell, who cares for more than a hundred injured birds and animals at his sanctuary near Consett, said: "We will know in a couple of weeks just how full a recovery it will make."

Mr Blair was informed about the intruder as he spent the weekend in the house celebrating his baby son's christening.

PC Atkinson added: "The Prime Minister wondered what all the fuss was about and he was really concerned about the owl."

Asked if the parents' permission had been sought to take Leo the owl's picture, a police spokesman said: "They don't give a hoot."