A 79-year-old woman was left unable to watch television after a seagull got caught in her TV aerial.

The fire service had to remove the aerial after releasing the injured bird, because of public safety concerns.

Pamela Renphrey, who lives in Beccles Road, Gorleston had no TV from Tuesday until Thursday last week.

She said: “I put the TV on in the afternoon and it wouldn’t go on. I then saw two TV aerials in the front garden.”

One of her neighbours, George Bentley, 66, contacted the fire service to see if there was anything that could be done about it.

Mr Bentley said: “The first thing they said to me was call an aerial company.”

The bird had to be put to sleep by the RSPCA last week after getting caught in the TV aerial.

The bird broke its wing after flying into the rooftop structure at about 9am last Tuesday.

Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service’s station manager for Gorleston, Jonathan Wilby said: “We were alerted to the incident by a local resident and on investigation it became clear that a seagull had flown into a television aerial.

“The bird had detached the aerial and its bracket from the roof of the property.

“As the aerial and bracket were hanging from the aerial cable, it was considered a public safety concern and was disconnected as a preventative measure.

“With incidents of this nature, property is the responsibility of the owner and should be recovered through the appropriate insurer.”

A spokesman for the RSPB said their officers must prioritise the welfare of animals and putting the bird down was the most humane thing to do as it had irreparably broken its wing.