Penelope the pigeon rules the roost at home after being saved from certain death by an eagle-eyed restaurant owner.

The bird was found as a tiny chick, lying in the rafters of a building that was being redeveloped.

But after being nursed back to health by hand, she has now settled into life as a house pigeon, enjoying watching TV from the back of a couch and landing on people’s heads.

But Penelope is far from house trained and rescuer Iain Flitcroft has to follow her around his Worthing home, mopping up her mess.

Iain, 44, of Brooklyn Avenue, discovered Penelope in the roof of his new restaurant, Carabao Steakhouse and Thai Eatery in Warwick Street, Worthing, shortly before major building work started.

He said: “In the early days when the building was empty, pigeons took residence on the upper two floors, getting in and out through a broken window.

“I resolved to go in, clear the birds and board up the window.

“Having eventually done that, I was preparing to go home. But in the gloom I noticed a tiny form lying between the rafters, moving gently. On closer inspection I saw it was a baby pigeon – only a few days old – with just the beginnings of a few feathers.

“My first temptation was to leave the bird there, pretending I hadn’t seen it.

“But knowing the restaurant was to be Thai and remembering the Buddhist culture, I did not want to attract bad karma before we had opened.

“So the bird came home. And there followed weeks of sleepless nights feeding it scrambled egg through a syringe.”

Iain, executive chairman of Manhattan Furniture, based at Lancing Business Park, was helped by his Thai chef Toy Singsaeng and his wife Dao, who were staying with him.

He said: “When I first brought the pigeon home it was tiny and malnourished.

I called the RSPCA and the RSPB and they told me that it was difficult to hand-rear a pigeon of that age.

“We had to feed it every three hours, morning, noon and night, for two months. It was like having a baby in the house.”

As a chick, Penelope loved sleeping on the back of Whisky, a German shepherd dog, who never batted an eyelid.

Iain, who regularly plays the famous Wurlitzer organ at the town’s Assembly Hall, even took the pigeon to work in a box and interrupted his important meetings to feed her.

He said: “The conclusion is that we now have a healthy, fully grown and tame house pigeon, which has fights around the lounge with my macaw, who is a bit jealous.”

Carabao, which cost £500,000 to refurbish, will open in about three weeks’ time.