The Harris hawk whose aviary was damaged in Storm Doris, and who was carried away by the gales yesterday, is now safely back home.

Jo Daffin, who lives in Reymerston, near Dereham, said words could not express her joy after she found Chink following a day and night of almost constant searching.

She and a team of friends searched late into the night and were up again at first light this morning to look for the bird of prey.

He disappeared towards the Hardingham estate yesterday during the height of the storm which blew the roof off his aviary.

'He was clinging to a tree,' she said. 'I climbed on the aviary and just got hold of him and he got hold of me when the wind knocked us back and he hit a tree next door before the wind carried him off.

'He is an old bird, about 14, and didn't have the strength to fly home against the wind.'

Ms Daffin said she has had Chink for four years, after he came to her as a rescue case. She has 10 birds in total, the others were all safe, but said she and Chink have a very special bond.

'He is like one of my children,' she said.

Appeals on social media brought in a couple of possible sightings.

One motorist reported seeing a bird fitting his description swoop across the road in front of him near Garvestone this afternoon.

Ms Daffin thanked everyone who had helped with the search, which had such a happy ending.

'Thankfully he hadn't gone far,' she said.