A COTTINGLEY resident has expressed his concern over the lack of small garden birds visiting his and neighbours' gardens over the past couple of months and worries that bird flu is the cause.

Alan Cooper, from Roundhill Avenue, said he and his wife, Doreen, always have bird feeders in their garden but apart from large birds, such as pigeons and magpies, have had no visiting small birds such as finches, robins or sparrows for a while.

"They've all gone," he said. "I've spoken to neighbours in our cul-de-sac and they've said the same that they hardly see any little birds now. I haven't even seen any starlings visiting the garden and there are usually lots. I think bird flu must be wiping them out. It's very sad but there's not a lot we can do.

"I haven't asked other people beyond our cul-de-sac so I would be interested to hear if others around Cottingley had noticed anything."

Mr Cooper said he and his wife have a caravan at Grange-over-Sands which they visit a lot and still get lots of feathered visitors to their feeders there. He said he may as well take the feeders he has in Cottingley up there and hope numbers pick up again.