A MEMBER of the National Trust’s Yorkshire Dales team had an unexpected passenger on her regular commute after discovering a barn owl in distress.

Alicia Turner, the trust’s woodlands project officer, witnessed a barn owl being hit by a car near Malham Tarn on Friday evening. But amazingly, after Alicia pulled over to assist the stricken bird, it nestled itself into her passenger footwell and made a full recovery.

Says Alicia, “It was amazing to be so close to such a beautiful owl in its natural habitat. It must’ve been quite stunned by the knock, but it was just incredible to see it going from looking quite dead, to making itself comfy in the car, to flying off completely unharmed.”

Alicia sought advice from experts before being satisfied that the barn owl was happy to head back into woodlands unharmed.