A CHIRPY canary has proved he's no bird brain by beating more than 400 humans in a charity quiz - on cricket.

Cheeky Charlie left organisers stumped when they rang to say he had won the £50 prize money after correctly answering an impressive nine out of the ten questions.

For in a re-run of the Carry On At Your Convenience film - where Sid James's budgie correctly predicts racehorse winners - the canary's chirp proved the key to success.

His owner, Joan Stainsby, of Wynyard, near Billingham, Teesside, revealed that she simply asked Charlie the questions. When he chirped, the answer was yes, and when he remained silent, it was no.

The quiz, based on the first game of the Ashes series against Australia, was compiled by Redcar police sergeant Colin Gibson to raise money for children's hospice Zoe's Place.

After marking more than 400 entries in the competition, he was left stumped when he called to congratulate the winner.

When he dialled the number on the entry form and asked if he could speak to Charlie he was simply told "no".

"I was a bit taken aback, but it wasn't surprising really when I found out Charlie is a canary," said Sgt Gibson.

"It was a bit like one of the Carry On films where Sid James uses a budgie to pick the winners in a horse race."

Mrs Stainsby, who is a volunteer worker at Zoe's Place, in Normanby, near Middlesbrough, said: "We had never even tried something like this before but the questions were all about cricket.

"We were very surprised to hear we had won - and we were the only entrants to even get nine out of ten."

She said Charlie was named after a famous cricketer.

"Brian Lara's middle name is Charles. I'm a strong West Indian supporter, so it seemed the right thing to call him Charlie."

Ever the sportsman, Charlie's £50 winnings will go to Cleveland Police's Charity Pro-Am Golf Tournament to be added to the prize fund.