A BIRD rescue group are asking businesses to think twice before calling pest control after a pigeon was killed inside a Barrow gym.

Bardsea Bird Sanctuary were approached by The Gym, a 24-hour-gym based at Cornerhouse Retail Park which recently opened in December, after a pigeon got trapped inside the building.

Two members of the sanctuary's Tweet Fleet, a group made up of volunteer rescuers, attended the premises on Tuesday to assess the situation, and claim it was arranged that they would return to the next day with the equipment that they needed to catch the bird alive.

In a statement issued by the Tweet Fleet, they said: "Instead of waiting for us to return, the manager took the decision to call pest control and the pigeon is now deceased."

The Tweet Fleet state: "Arrangements were made to revisit the gym the following day with equipment, but unable to phone we repeatedly messaged until being finally informed that the bird had been 'got rid of'. Shot.

"Prior to this we were all confident of a good outcome and were naturally shocked and saddened upon hearing of the demise of this bird that could have been saved."

The sanctuary and its members are keen to stress that they are "not asking people to boycott or take any adverse action against The Gym", and that they just want businesses to think twice before resorting to pest control.

They also thanked everyone who had contacted them, asking them to help the pigeon.

The Gym Group, which owns a large number of gyms across the UK, said that they had sought 'external professional expertise' to help release the pigeon from the confines of the gym, but was unable to rescue the bird safely.

A spokesperson for The Gym Group: “In the first instance we contacted the Bardsea Bird Sanctuary, who were unable to help on this occasion. We then sought external professional expertise who made several attempts to rescue the bird safely but were unable to do so.”