A MAYBOLE family have told how they saved a chicken from oncoming traffic after it appeared in on a main road.

Emily and Craig Devine have now named the plucky hen Champagne Charlie as she is settled in her new home.

The couple launched a plea to find the animals owner, but no one has since claimed that the bird belongs to them.

Emily has told how her husband Craig stopped the runaway hen from being struck down by a bus as it ran across Culzean Road on Sunday, February 2.

She said: “It was about nine at night. We had just returned from Glasgow with our dog.

“Craig had to go back out to get some petrol, he was just driving out the driveway when he spotted the chicken coming towards him.

“She was just walking straight in the middle of the road, Craig drove out and flashed his lights to warn oncoming traffic.

“She stopped outside the church, but once he was chasing her she started running up the road again and nearly got hit by a bus and three other cars. But he eventually got her under the jacket.”

After the hen was brought back to safety, Emily alerted others in the community of her discovery in a bid to find the owner.

She posted on Facebook and spoke with local vets, but she was unable to find out who the hen may belong to.

Some even suggested the hen could belong to a local woman who owns several other chickens, but after she had a look to see if any were missing she told Emily “that’s not my hen”.

However Emily does suspect that the hen could be someone’s pet.

She added: “When I put it on the page saying it was an unusual thing, someone said they had found a chicken about a month ago, but it was this woman’s house, her chickens escape a lot.

“I think Champagne could be someone’s pet, she doesn’t mind getting petted, so she might be someone’s back yard hen.”