HM Customs and Excise has decided that it will appeal against the Court’s decision to allow the majority of the birds belonging to parrot breeder Harry Sissen to be returned to him.

Last November Judge Roy Anderson, presiding over confiscation proceedings at Richmond Magistrates Court decided that around 100 of the 144 birds seized in two raids on his North Yorkshire farm should be returned.

When the judgement was handed down, a spokesperson for Customs and Excise said, regarding an appeal: ’We are waiting to see formal written judgement from the judge and will be in discussion with our solicitors and other parties before we make any further decision."

However at a recent hearing Customs declared its intention to fight the decision, and a date has been set for the latest round of the long-running legal battle.

It will take place at Teesside Crown Court from April 8 to 10. It will be presided over by Judge Guy Whitburn, the justice who jailed Harry Sissen for two and a half years at Newcastle Crown Court in April 2000 for illegally importing protected species.