Little girl reunited with cherished pet budgie after Chron appeal helps resident realise it was holidaying in her garden

A Chron appeal led to a little girl reuniting with her lost pet budgie.

A little girl in Northampton has been reunited with her cherished pet budgie that flew away last week thanks to a Chronicle & Echo appeal.

12-year-old Aamna Khan was left heartbroken last week after an accident in the garden led to two of her beloved pet budgies, Ocean and Buttercup, escaping from their cage.

Aamna and her family spent days looking for their pets, and on May 26 also asked the Chron for some help by publishing a picture of the missing pair.Now, Aamna has been reunited with her precious Ocean - after a lady in Abington Vale read the Chron's story and realised she had been feeding the missing tropical bird for the past five days.

Liz Allen (right) saw the Chron's story and realised she had been feeding the missing budgie in her garden.

Liz Allen, who helped Aamna reunite with Ocean, said: "I'm very glad this story had a happy ending."

Liz and her husband enjoy feeding the birds at their home in Abington Vale - but last week, then started seeing an unusual visitor.

"On Saturday (May 23) my husband told me he had seen a green bird in the garden," Liz said. "I thought it must have been a finch, but then I saw it too and it was a budgie.

"My husband said 'that's what I thought too but I didn't want you to think I was daft.'"

Ocean the budgie, back home with his loving family.

For the next week, Liz and her husband fed the visitor, who had made friends with the baby starlings in the garden.

Then, five days later, Liz checked the news on the Chronicle & Echo's website - and spotted a familiar face."It's not a habit of mine to check the news, I don't like to dwell on it these days," said Liz. "But the headline caught my eye and I realised the missing budgie was the one in my garden."

After that, Liz got in touch with Aamna's mum Nayla, and the next day, after some tricky coaxing into his cage, Ocean was back with his family.

Liz said: "It's amazing that it survived out in the wild for eight days.

Aamna' cherished pet budgie Buttercup is still missing - have you seen her?

"I'm just so happy the story had a happy ending. The little girl, Aamna, was just so happy."

Aamna's mum Nayla said: "My daughter is over the moon to have her budgie back where he belongs. We are surprised he survived on his own but we never lost hope."

But now, the search is still on for Ocean's big sister Buttercup, a bright yellow and blue budgie who escaped on the same day.Anyone who spots the distinctive tropical bird in Northampton is asked to call Nayla on 07970 490287.