A RESCUED rook that learned to talk and became a village celebrity has died at the age of 20.

Jacko's flight to fame began when he was first discovered lying in the B3400, near Newfound, by Patrick Hayward in 1988. The bird had been hit by traffic soon after leaving the nest.

Mr Hayward, of Harvey's Field, Overton, took him home and looked after him, making him his own perch in the garden shed for him to sleep on at night. During the day, Jacko would either fly off, stay in the garden or travel with Mr Hayward.

At first, Mr Hayward's wife Sheryl was not happy with the new arrival, but eventually he became part of the family and was much loved by the Haywards' children Mandy, Alan and Wayne.

Mr Hayward, 57, said: "I didn't think he'd make it. I mended his beak with glue and filed it regularly to make sure he could eat properly, because the top part was longer than the bottom."

Mrs Hayward, 52, said: "It's very sad without him. The house has been quiet - he was such a character."

Jacko made the front page of The Gazette on February 12, 1990, after he began talking to locals from his perch in a hedge.

His vocabulary included "Wacko Jacko", "good morning", "goodbye" and "what did I tell you?" after he heard Mr Hayward say it to his children. He even referred to Mr Hayward as Pat.

Following an appearance at the Overton Beer Festival, where Jacko stepped in when the invited celebrity could not attend, he received offers to appear on the TV show That's Life! presented by Esther Rantzen, and later, on Sky TV.

However, his new family did not want to exploit him and so he stayed out of the national limelight.

Mr Hayward said: "He used to fly off for days but he'd always come back. He stayed closer to home towards the end of his life, but he still had his sense of humour."

Jacko appeared regularly at the Overton Beer Festival and went to pubs perched on Mr Hayward's arm. Mr Hayward reckons Jacko's favourite pub was The Bell Inn, in Aldworth, Berkshire, where he would sit on a special perch.

Mr Hayward said that the bird even had a beer named after him called Black Rook Stout, which was brewed in London.

He was also taken to meet the mayor at the Civic Offices in Basingstoke and visited Kings Furlong Infant School and nursery. He also won a prize for the most unusual pet at Whitchurch Primary School.

Jacko would even go on caravan holidays with the family to Cornwall, staying in the shower room.

Mr Hayward said: "We have some wonderful memories of him. He was much loved - there's been lots of tears shed.

"Lots of people knew him and the local children loved him. My children would feed him sweets and his favourite food was the skin off a roast chicken. He had a fried egg every morning too. He was such a character."

After slowing down in recent times, Jacko died of pneumonia last week after getting wet.

According to the RSPB, rooks are very sociable birds. A spokesman said 20 years of age would be a typical lifespan for a rook not living in the wild.