A pair of long-eared owls have been hatched in captivity for the first time in Britain.

After seven years of patience and passion, staff have quietly encouraged adult owls Judith and Lanark to become parents.

The Kielder Water Birds of Prey Centre, in Northumberland, successfully bred the owlets, weighing only four ounces each.

Long-eared owls are notoriously difficult to breed in captivity because of their nervous nature, and can take years to become relaxed in the company of humans.

Centre proprietor Ray Lowden, 50, of Gateshead, is now rearing the owlets to recognise him as their parent.

Mr Lowden, who puts the achievement down to the "luck of the draw", has never taken a holiday since he began the job at Leaplish, Kielder, Northumberland, seven years ago.

Mr Lowden, who kept a private collection of birds of prey at his his home for 38 years, works at the centre with his son, Graham, 27, a trainee falconer, and wife Hilary, 48.

It has received recognition and congratulations from fellow birds of prey centres for the achievement.

There are estimated to be about 2,000 long-eared owls in Britain and, while they are not under any major threat, they do suffer from habitat destruction.

The owlets won't be given names for the moment. They will are destined to move to other birds of prey centres, in Yorkshire and Wales, where names will be given when they have settled in.

The centre, which has 75 birds of prey, ranging from eagles, hawks, owls, vultures and kestrels, is now awaiting the delivery of a white-tailed sea eagle, the largest eagle in Britain, from Moscow.