AN expert today lifted the lid on the 25-year quest for the pink budgie which has challenged breeders throughout the country.

Bookies William Hill have offered punters the chance to have a flutter on breeding the first example of the creature, which has gained mythological status to rival that of the Loch Ness Monster, with odds of 100/1 on a successful outcome.

But Dave Folley claimed that no such thing exists, despite rumours flying around budgie circles ever since he joined nearly 25 years ago.

"It gets mentioned every now and again and I have heard people claiming they have got a pink budgie but when it's checked out it's not true," said Dave, the junior president of the national Budgerigar Society. "The rumour probably started by somebody saying they had one years ago or that it was possible. If somebody could produce a pink budgie everybody would want one."

Indeed such is the attraction of a pink budgie that any producer would be sitting on a very tidy nest-egg.

A spokesman for William Hill's said today that the bet had been first offered 15 years ago as a bit of fun. But even they have to take it seriously in case they're hit with a nasty bill and with tweets -- I mean cheats -- around, anything is possible. "We have taken a few bets over the years and there has been false alarms on some occasions," said a spokesman. "But they have been foul play, either using a touch of paint or in one case feeding the bird prawns to try and make it pink. Producing a pink budgie is marginally less likely than the Loch Ness Monster turning up but technological advances used with humans could be used to breed a pink budgie that's why the odds are 100/1 and not 1,000,000/1."

Dave, of Manchester Road, Burnley, said the original budgies transported over from Australia in the 1840s were green and all varieties that are seen today are "man-made."

As an expert breeder Dave has sky-blue ones, yellow ones, grey ones, even grey ones with yellow faces. But not a pink one.

"There aren't any red ones either," added Dave. "If there was you would probably be able to produce a pink one."

Ian Peel, a trained colourist, who works at Blackburn Yarn Dyers Ltd, in Haslingden Road, Blackburn, added that pink might be the problem not the budgie.

"I wouldn't say it's the hardest to work with but pink is not an easy colour," he said. "No reds are. You can get some good bright pinks but they tend to wash out easily."

Picture: Dave Folley with one of his 120 budgies, none of which are pink