A PARROT saved his owner by raising the alarm when a fire started at their home.

Vets are now battling to save Rocky, an African grey, who was overcome by smoke during the drama.

Owner Paul Broadhurst, said he was woken by the bird squawking and falling off his perch with a loud thud when the blaze started in the living room.

Highways officer Paul, of Wordsworth Road, North Reddish, was asleep upstairs when he heard the noise.

He described Rocky as a clumsy bird who falls all the time. But when he opened his bedroom door to check on his beloved pet, which he has owned for more than two years, a wall of smoke confronted him.

Frazzled

He dashed downstairs and called the fire service before grabbing a garden hose in a desperate attempt to douse the flames and save Rocky.

Eventually fire-fighters wearing breathing apparatus rescued Rocky and gave him oxygen.

They also rescued four hermit crabs Paul owns, but a giant tank containing tropical fish was destroyed.

Paul said: "To be honest if Ricky didn't fall I probably would have been frazzled. He is a hero because he saved my life.

"Now I just hope he's going to be OK - everyone keeps asking how he is."

Sub officer Nick Hince of Whitehill fire station in Stockport said: "The house was not fitted with a smoke alarm and although miners used canaries to smell gas and smoke, nothing can give as early a warning as a smoke alarm."