Scot Thomson, 53, hammered through a blocked-up chimney to free the bird which he claimed was a “British citizen” in need of help.

The builder, from Edinburgh, said he was forced to get out a mash hammer and help the bird escape when the Scottish SPCA revealed it was powerless to free the animal.

Thomson caused about £1,000 worth of damage to his daughter Shenel’s wall but said he could not simply leave the wood pigeon to die.

He said: “I cut a hole in the wall and there was a big wood pigeon in there who couldn’t open its wings.

“I had to be careful because I didn’t want to scare the bird. I put a towel on the wall as I was hitting it so it didn’t make a noise.

“I don’t care if it costs £1,000 or £10,000, that bird is a British citizen and it needed my help.

“We took the bird out and tried to feed it some bread and some water, it was obviously scared after being in there for a few days.

“We took it out to the balcony and it just flew away.

“The SSPCA said ‘just leave it’ but they are supposed to be the people who help animals in distress.

“My daughter has just spent thousands of pounds doing up the house but I had to free it because I love animals.”

For several days, Shenel, 25, had heard the bird scratching around frantically and hoped it would escape of its own accord.

When she called the SSPCA, she claims she was told they weren’t insured to come into her property or to go down the chimney.

A Scottish SPCA spokeswoman said: “If a fireplace is completely blocked up we would advise the homeowner that they need to provide access and sometimes this means arranging for a wall to be knocked through.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have the tools or expertise to do this.

“We are pleased to hear that in this instance the wood pigeon was able to be freed unharmed.”