Jake loves to eat paper and pens

"I presented the fixed penalty ticket and told them the parrot had pulled the discs out.

"They had to accept my disc was in order - it doesn't run out until next May.

"The police thought it was hilarious - a real joke, they were taking photographs, and I was there for half an hour.

"I completed the mitigation form, and Jake was playing with the sergeant's pen as he was filling in the paperwork."

A Northumbria Police spokesman said: "The gentleman was in a bit of a flap when he came in to see us.

"Once we were aware of the circumstances and saw the parrot the ticket was removed."

'Chews clothes'

Mr Lomax said Jake also likes to chew clothes, zips and pens, and could say "I am a lovely parrot" and "A lovely cup of tea".

He was bought for Mr Lomax's mother-in-law but he had to take the parrot into his home because it was aggravating her asthma.

Mr Lomax, who runs a plant nursery, said: "If anyone comes to the nursery he is straight out, he flies outside and follows them around.

"He likes to play - he likes to roll around on his back and chew up letters that the postman has left on the mat."