Parrot owner compensated £2k by RAF
Military chiefs paid more than £2,000 after the exotic bird died when a Hercules soared over a house in Ayrshire.
Ministry of Defence officials have revealed that in the last three years they have paid out a total of £1.4 million in more than 200 separate claims across the UK for low-flying aircraft damage.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThe payouts included £2,200 for the dead parrot and nearly £300 to two therapy groups, disturbed by the roar of fighter planes flying overhead. Another £900 was claimed for damage to a child’s trampoline in Lancashire.
But taxpayers’ watchdogs blasted the huge bill. Robert Oxley, of Taxpayer Scotland, said: “There is a danger that the MoD gets used to paying out compensation for these flights regardless of whether it is justified or not. Some payouts appear to be seriously stretching the boundaries of what is reasonable.”
The highest amounts claimed for compensation were for personal injury.
But huge sums were also paid out for damage to livestock, buildings and crops.