Mia the escaped parrot is back home and safe after being stuck up a tree for three days in Milton Keynes

Mia the blue and gold macaw was out in back garden with her owner Carole Smyth on Saturday when something suddenly spooked her and she flew away.

She came to rest in a tree near her Galley Hill home – but no amount of coaxing would persuade her to fly down.

The Citizen described yesterday (Tuesday) how Carole appealed for help to the RSPCA and the fire service, but both refused.

Meanwhile she feared for Mia’s safety as the bird was getting more and more terrified, cold and hungry.

She called Milton Keynes-based Browns Tree Solutions to see if they could help, willing to pay anything to get her pet down.

"Three lads came out yesterday afternoon. One of them, Ryan, climbed up the tree using ropes, supported by Brandon and Tyler on the ground...They were amazing,” said Carole.

Ryan was armed with Mia’s favourite treat, a custard cream biscuit, and spoke to her gently to calm her.

"He managed to grab her and put her in a bag to bring her down safely. It was such a relief. I was over the moon.” said Carole.

The caring family-run company then refused to take her payment, saying they were happy to help.

"They were just so lovely. I made the lads take a tip, but they didn’t even want to do that at first…. I just want to say a big thank you to this company,” she said.

Meanwhile, apart from a few minor cuts on her face and some tatty feather, Mia is none the worse for her ordeal.

"She is starving hungry so I’m feeding her little and often. Her favourite things are pistachio nuts, walnuts and, of course, the occasional custard cream!” said Carole.

"But I won’t be taking her out in the garden again. I think she’s too scared to even go near the back door now.”

Parrots are not natural flyers and, when it was obvious Mia was not going to fly down for the tree, Carole called the RSPCA and the fire service for help.

"I was willing to pay for their help, but they said they couldn’t. The fire service said they couldn’t do it without the permission of the RSPCA and the RSPCA said they wouldn’t sanction it,” she said.

A spokesperson for the RSPCA told the Citizen: “We receive around a million calls every year - with one report of cruelty every five minutes during the summer. Our officers need to focus their specialist skills reaching animal victims of cruelty and neglect as they have no one else to help them. Summer is our busiest time for cruelty reports and there have already been 44,879 reports of animal cruelty across England and Wales so far this year.

“We encourage people with pets up trees to contact tree surgeons as they have the specialist skills and equipment to safely rescue animals from at height. “