Lucky is a national winner

Pinchbeck pigeon racer John Bellerby is celebrating after winning a national race.

Bellerby’s bird Lucky is his first national winner.

She flew 312 miles from Fougeres in France in six hours and 42 minutes, beating nearly 3,000 birds from all over the country in the race on June 7.

Bellerby said: “We call her Lucky because four weeks earlier she was attacked by a hawk on her way home from a race.”

He is a member of the Spalding Homing Society, which is more than 100 years old and meets at Spalding Services Club.