A Brit pigeon dubbed "Miss Platinum" has sparked a bidding war as people across the globe offer five figure sums to buy the bird.
Miss Platinum the racer pigeon, from Byker, has caught the eye of hundreds and garnered interest from around the world after an award winning stint last year.
Her performance in the middle distance championships, which Miss Platinum won, has seen the winged winner pull in some considerable interest and even more cash, reports Chronicle Live.
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David Renwick, 60, and Tony Blackett, 64, who own the pigeon whose awards include UK Ace Titan and Tynemouth North Federation Bird of the Year, were stunned by the interest in their award-winning squab.
The duo could barely believe the news when they received an email to say she had now been named FCI (Fédération Colombophile Internationale) world middle distance champion.
David continued: "For us to get an email like that was like getting an email off The Queen.
"It's the biggest thing you can get in pigeon racing, being a world champion, and we never imagined it from a pigeon we raced from the banks of the River Tyne. She's just an exceptional pigeon, she's one-in-a-million and we'll never own another pigeon like her."
The world champion is decided by working out which pigeon has the lowest coefficient. This is calculated by multiplying the position the pigeon finished in the race by 1,000 and then dividing this number by the number of pigeons it has raced.
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The pigeon fought through the competition and has since retired. Now, David and Tony have had some startling offers from Europe and beyond to buy the bird.
David said: "There's worldwide interest in buying her now, we've had offers from China and Belgium and I'm sure there will continue to be people from all over the world trying to buy her.
"She's too valuable to race now so we've retired her. There's a too many risks if she's out racing, a hawk could get her or anything. Some pigeons hit wires, like telephone wires, when they're racing too so she's far too valuable."
Offers reached £20,000 when Miss Platinum "won the UK championships", with the pair now saying they have received a £50,000 offer "which we haven't taken".
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