Grandfather Philip Whiteman was stunned to discover the parrots had been stolen from a shed in the garden of his Blyth home in two separate raids.

Now, the 59-year-old is warning other parrot owners to be on their guard and include extra security.

The first theft happened on February 27 when a Blue-footed Amazon and two Eclectus parrots were stolen.

And just as the family was recovering from that, Mr Whiteman's grandchildren were left in further tears when thieves broke in again in the early hours of April 1 and stole two more parrots – an African grey and another Blue-footed Amazon.

The family is now offering a £200 reward for the return of the parrots – worth around £3,000 in total.

Mr Whiteman said: "There has been several sheds broken into on this estate but they have targeted my shed deliberately.

"I'm absolutely cheesed off and fed up.

"We've had these parrots quite a while now.

"I got them for the grandchildren, so they could come over and play with them, feed them and get used to them.

"It has to be people who know about parrots who must have taken them, grown up people who know how to handle them.

"I've got a bad heart so I try not to get stressed so this is the last thing I needed."

In a small consolation, two parrots that Mr Whiteman had been keeping for breeding purposes were not taken and he has now increased measures to stop them being taken.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of the parrots should contact Mr Whiteman on (01670) 356652.