A SEAGULL that had been dyed electric blue has been rescued from a car park in Carlisle by the RSPCA.

Shocked passers-by could not believe their eyes when they saw the bright blue bird walking about in Kingstown Industrial Estate.

They called the RSPCA for help as the gull was struggling to fly and looked like it needed help.

Animal welfare officer Graham Carter collected the poorly bird. He said: “I have been in this job for about 20 years and I have never seen anything like this. This bird was incredible.

“We have similar situations before where gulls have got themselves into trouble after falling into containers of beer, curry or oil. We have also seen situations where some birds have been dyed pink before, but we just don’t know what happened in this case with this poor bird.

"I wonder if some kind of blue powder has fallen on him and left him in this state.

“We would really like to hear from anyone who knows how this happened. If it's a case of the bird falling into a liquid or substance we would really like to know so that we can find the source and make sure this doesn't happen again. Or if it was done on purpose we would really like to know so we can look into this further. At this stage we simply don't know if this was an accident or malicious.

“Whatever the substance is, it has affected his feathers and meant that he was unable to fly, so I’m really glad we were able to rescue him and whisk him off to Wolfwood Wildlife Rescue Centre for a clean up and some much needed TLC."

After trying to clean the blue dye from the gull’s feathers, mystery still surrounds what it is and how it got there.

The poorly bird was then taken to Wolfwood Wildlife and Dog Rescue. Stephen Wakelin, co-founder and chair at the trust said: “The colour had faded rapidly but we just cannot fathom what has happened because if it had fallen into something it would be blue to the skin and it’s not.

“It’s very strange and it’s mystery. It wasn’t in a great condition when we got him and we didn’t think he would make it but over the weekend he’s perked up.”

Anyone with information about how the bird came to be so blue should contact the RSPCA on the inspector appeal line on 0300 123 8018. To help the RSPCA continue rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming animals in desperate need of care please visit our website or call our donation line on 0300 123 8181.