LANGUAGE students raised the alarm yesterday morning when they saw a pigeon trapped in netting next to their Oxford classroom.

Staff at Bellerbys College in Broad Street called the RSPCA after the students from Brazil and Colombia alerted them to the pigeon’s plight.

But RSPCA officer Andy Eddy was unable to reach the bird, which was stuck more than 50ft up, so called in the fire brigade.

Two hours later, firefighters reached the bird behind Boswell House and put it in a box before handing it to Mr Eddy, an animal welfare officer with the RSPCA.

The pigeon was taken to St Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital at Haddenham, near Thame.

Mr Eddy, pictured right with the rescued bird, added: “They will give him some tender loving care until he is fit enough to be released.”

Fire service incident commander Edward Murphy said seven firefighters from Oxford and Kidlington took part in the rescue.

He said: “We took our time to assess how to carry out the rescue safely because there is no sense in rushing to rescue a bird or animal if it puts people in dangerous situations.

“Our view is that if we can deploy our equipment and test our skills in a non-emergency like this, we will be better prepared for a human rescue.”