The House of Lords has refused to grant jailed bird keeper Harry Sissen leave to appeal against his conviction on a point of law, his last hope of overturning the conviction.

Instead he must face the resumption of confiscation proceedings against him, which will decide the fate of 69 rare birds seized in raids on his North Yorkshire farm three years ago.

A date has been set for the adjourned proceedings to be resumed on July 26, at Teeside Crown Court, for which two weeks have been allocated.

He also faces condemnation proceedings in which Customs and Excise will attempt to seize assets worth £ 404,000 - the amount by which they claim he has benefited from his breeding of rare and endangered species.

The current foot-and mouth has hampered the gathering of DNA evidence for the case, as movement of livestock from zoos is severely restricted - including transportation of birds for sampling at Avian Biotech’s laboratories in Cornwall.