ONE of the more unusual seabirds in Britain has made an appearance along the North-East coast.

Shags, large fish-eating birds, are usually black but a white one has been spotted on the Farne Islands off Northumberland.

Although they do occur in nature, white birds are relatively infrequent, said John Walton, the National Trust warden on the islands.

He said: "The last one here was about six or seven years ago. They are not albinos but are lacking pigment, so they are different from the normal shags. It is attracting quite a bit of interest."

There have also been recent reports of white shags in the Firth of Forth in Scotland.