BIRDS make their homes in the strangest of places - but few can be quite as secure as an armoured car.

A family of thrushes have made their nest in a Ferret armoured car, at the Eden Camp wartime theme museum, at Old Malton, North Yorkshire.

Their presence is proving so popular with museum visitors that the vehicle has had to be roped off to let the birds raise their chicks in peace.

Curator Steve Jaques said yesterday: "They seem to think that this armoured car was put there just for them - and we're all getting quite fond of them."

Young visitors to the museum are usually allowed to crawl all over the vehicle, to see what life was like for the soldiers that once used them.

But they are now being kept well clear of the Ferret - at least until the chicks have flown the nest.