O Sole Mio-whistling parrot at the center of bitter custody battle between ex-owner and council

A man is embroiled in a bitter custody row with a council over an Italian-speaking parrot who can whistle O Sole Mio. Coco the African Grey is a favorite at the council's Pet's Corner facility but Angelo Ferlazzo claims the bird belongs to him and he wants him back. Mr Ferlazzo, 50, said he bought the parrot from a pet shop in Harlow, Essex, in 1984 and spent months training him to make him tame.

He even taught his feathered friend to chatter in Italian and whistle O Sole Mio, made famous by the Wall's Cornetto ice cream ads in the 1980s. But when his marriage broke down a few years later, he moved back to his native Italy briefly he decided not to take Coco due to the quarantine laws. So he left the pet with his former partner to care for and believed the bird was still living happily with her.

However, back in Britain four years ago he visited Pets Corner in Harlow Town Park with new partner Karen Wright and discovered Coco was the main attraction. He said the parrot's distinctive rendition of O Sole Mio shed any doubts from his mind and brought tears to his eyes. Mr Ferlazzo said: "I taught him to say everything - I used to spend a lot of time with him.

"We just want to be reunited together - that bird should be with a family." But despite his pleas to Harlow Council to hand over the bird, even offering to replace him with another legally-sourced African Grey, they have refused. Council officials said that after nine years at Pets' Corner, a move would distress Coco unnecessarily.