A COUPLE at the centre of a row over a trapped sparrow suffered days of harassment before vandals smashed open a ventilation grille to free the bird.

The house sparrow chick became stuck inside a wall of the house in the Avondale area of Darwen last week after it fell from the guttering where it was nesting.

Pensioner Norman Young opted not to order the work to remove the grille as the bird would probably not survive and had been warned it could damage the structure.

But neighbour Keith Maynard felt so strongly he organised a petition. It is believed someone who had heard about the problem smashed the grille with a hammer at around 9.30pm on Sunday.

The bird is thought to have flown away but police were investigating the criminal damage and alleged harassment of Mr Young and his wife, who are both in their 70s.

Their son, Andy Young, today told how people had harassed his elderly parents after his father refused to allow work to free the bird.

He said: "The bird has gone now and ironically the damage my father was trying to avoid has been done anyway, and they are going to have to pay for it.

"My mum doesn't keep very well. She is very nervous and has high blood pressure. She was petrified someone was going to put her window through."

He added: "If my father had thought he could have saved the bird he would have, but he was genuinely told by the RSPB nothing could really be done.

"They had a bird stuck previously and had the grille smashed out, causing a lot of damage, and the bird died."

Inspector Stuart Bruce said: "I can confirm that someone drove up to the house, smashed the small ceramic air vent causing criminal damage and drove off again."