SOME OF the country’s highest flyers will be going on sale later this month to raise money for flyers of a different nature.

Nigel Bennett, a pigeon racing enthusiast, will be hosting an auction of racing pigeons at Fernhill Heath Memorial Hall on Sunday, March 24 to raise money for Midlands Air Ambulance.

Mr Bennett, the former president of Belmont Flying Club in Rainbow Hill, is hoping about 40 young pigeons from across the country will be going under the hammer to raise as much money as possible for the charity.

Mr Bennett has previously held similar events for the Midlands Air Ambulance and said a single auction can raise £1,500.

He said: “When we had the sale at the Goodrest Inn, we raised a lot more than we thought. We’re just hoping to raise as much as possible.

“All the proceeds will go towards the charity.”

Mr Bennett is hopeful that other enthusiasts will come from far and wide for the auction, which has been advertised all over the country in magazines.He said: “There’s a lot of people who spend a lot of their time to get them right for racing. It’s a bit of a dying sport but we like to do things to raise money.”

Although he no longer has his own pigeons, Mr Bennett said he is helping someone else with his and said he still enjoys the sport.

He said: “I’m racing them every day at the moment. I just hope the weather changes. It’s preparing the pigeons for racing. They do go right across into France.

“They can do 450 miles in 10 or 12 hours, but it totally depends on the wind. There are lots of hazards on the way back.”

Viewing at the auction starts at 12pm, before the sale starts at 1pm.