A HOUSE-SPARROW chick which has become stuck behind a ventilation grille has caused a row between neighbours in Darwen.

The chick is trapped at a house in Brighton Terrace but the owner has refused to allow a builder to remove the grille and release the bird, which is throught to have fallen from a nest in the guttering.

Next-door-neighbour Keith Maynard, 47, has offered to pay for a builder to get the sparrow out but owner Norman Young will not allow any work to be carried out.

He said that a bird was trapped in the same place two years agao and a rescue attempt then not only failed to save the bird but also damaged his property.

There were originally thought to have been five chicks, discovered by passing schoolchildren on their way home from Avondale Primary School, but only one has been seen. The children are thought to have been keeping it alive by pushing through food.

Mr Maynard, an orderly at Blackburn Royal Infirmary, said the children would be very upset if the bird was allowed to die, and added: "I find it very distressing even to talk about it."

Mr Maynard's work colleagues are also very concerned about the bird and have sent a petition containing more than 40 names to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph calling for it to be rescued.

However, Mr Young said the RSPCA advised him against rescuing the bird first-time round. He said: "If we got it out it would probably die anyway, so they said we should just let nature take its course. There is nothing we can do."

Mr Young added: "I've seen the children just walk straight past, nobody even looks at it."

Valerie Osborne, senior wildlife advisor for the RSPB, said: "With every bird, every effort should be made to save them. It seems cruel to me to do nothing when steps can be taken.

"The owner of the house is not acting illegally as the sparrow is not protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, but it does seem immoral."