A flamingo escaped from a zoo and was filmed flying around a nearby field earlier today.

The bird was seen flying around farmland close to Drusillas Animal Park, near Alfriston, and circled overhead before landing in the field.

Daniel Wright, who saw the bird in the field at Berwick Court Farm, said: “It was a beautiful site seeing the bird fly overhead, but not something you expect to see on a Tuesday afternoon outside your office.

“I looked out the window to see a member of staff from Drusillas in our car park in a branded Drusillas car.

"She looked flustered, we joked about how she'd be on the hunt for an escaped animal.

“Only five minutes later we noticed loads of staff members in the fields outside the grounds, surrounding an animal.

"From the distance we could only really tell that it was pink. But as the staff closed in, the bird panicked and took flight.”

The Chilean Flamingo was spotted at around 10.30am this morning and was safely caught around 20 mins later.

Flamingos have been housed at Drusillas since 1982 and can live for up to 20 to 30 years in the wild. They usually live in flocks of several thousand birds and are native to South America.

Chilean Flamingos are one of the larger species of the bird, standing at up to 1.5m tall.

A spokeswoman for Drusillas said: “One of our Chilean flamingos managed to reach the fields behind Drusillas at 10.30am this morning, was located at 10.35am and successfully caught by 10.50am.

"Our Zoo team responded immediately and regularly practice escaped animal procedures, so they are well rehearsed for rare incidents such as today.

“As a result, our flamingo was only out for a very short period of time and was caught calmly and safely, and returned to the enclosure.

"We are of course very pleased the animal has been returned unharmed and safe.”