THE country's top pigeon fancier - Her Majesty the Queen - has donated a bird from her royal loft to help raise money at a North-East charity auction.

The coup has been pulled off by Joe Davies, whose late father, John, a lifelong pigeon enthusiast, died last year of cancer.

He said: "A close friend of mine also died of the disease shortly after my dad so I decided I wanted to do something to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Relief.''

But when he came up with the idea of staging an auction of racing pigeons, he had no idea he would receive such top notch patronage.

"I knew the Queen was patron of the sport and had a loft of racing pigeons so I wrote to the Palace to ask if she would support the event," said Mr Davies, who is the community liaison officer at Castle Eden Dene national nature reserve.

And to his great surprise, the royal loft manager wrote back to say that the Queen had agreed to send one of her pigeons to the sale.

"I was absolutely delighted - but no more so than I have been from the response of local pigeon fanciers who are donating more than 60 of their top birds to the auction,'' said Mr Davies.

He admits, however, that there is bound to be extra interest in the royal prince among pigeons, which is due to arrive a couple of days before the auction on Sunday, March 19, at Shotton Comrades Club.

Mr Davies, who is not an experienced fancier, hopes to learn more about the sport through looking after his late father's loft at Seaham.

Leading fanciers from Durham, Wearside, Teesside and Tyneside are handing over young birds bred from top racing pigeons to the auction, which will begin with a viewing at 11.30am, moving on to the sale at 1pm.

Mr Davies said: "I feel very privileged to be putting together this sale, some of the best fanciers in the North-East, as well as Her Majesty the Queen, have given their generous support."

He is looking to raise about £6,000 and hoping for a good turnout on the day

He said: "The auction will provide a rare opportunity for fanciers to buy potential top racers as well as raising vital money for cancer relief."

For details about the sale, call Mr Davies on 07976 887757.

Association's lofty history

* Her Majesty the Queen is the Patron of the Royal Pigeon Racing Association (RPRA)

* It has 37,000 members, spread across 2,500 pigeon clubs in the UK.

* One of Prince George's innovations at Sandringham was the founding of the first royal pigeon loft in 1886.

* Pigeons from the royal lofts also saw active service with the Royal Air Force in the Second World War.